Clara Gilley and the Tyrant of Magic
by wordsmithdhampir
Summary: 'It's every child's dream to start off their school day by being chucked into a dumpster but honestly, by now, I've just learned to accept it as the daily routine.' - Twelve-year old Clara Gilley discovers she's a demigod and really can't understand how - weren't demigods supposed to be a hero? She was certainly no hero.
1. I almost go dumpster diving

**1.**

_I almost go dumpster diving_

_and I get saved by a knight with shining...oatmeal?_

It's every child's dream to start off the school day by being forced into a dumpster but honestly, by now, I've just learned to accept it as the beginning of a daily routine.

I felt my back slam against the bricked wall of the school building from being shoved against it. The hands that gripped my shoulders belonging to a girl who currently stood on the supposed popular side of the seventh grade's broad and admittedly diverse spectrum of students. The girl who had apparently set herself a task of relentlessly tormenting me every day of the week.

Charlotte Novak's light brown hair was pulled up into an elegant looking ponytail, her pale blue eyes sparkling with amusement at my obvious discomfort.

"Cough up Gilley," she snarled, causing her accomplices (three other girls who were proudly sporting priceless jewellery straight from Daddy's bank account) to laugh. Charlotte proceeded to bask in the attention like it was the only thing that gave her life.

"This is just getting way too cliché now, don't you think? What do you want this time, my lunch money?" I tugged my lips into a taunting pout. "Did Mommy and Daddy restrain your pocket money from one thousand dollars to five hundred?"

Naturally, the snarky retort resulted in another slam against the wall and this time I found myself wincing as my head banged against the bricks. "You're such a little weirdo," Charlotte hissed. "Don't you at least try to be normal? It might save you the pain of being bullied every day."

"If you're what they call normal, I think I'll pass thanks – _ouch_," there goes the head again. I've officially...what was the saying again – _got my bell rung? _I think that was it, yeah we'll go with that.

"You know what; I think we need to teach you another way to not underestimate us," said Queen Bee (I decided it was a fitting title) and I watched as her eyes drifted sideways to one of the green dumpsters lined up against the far wall. Her eyes flickered with something akin to glee as an idea sparked in her mind. "Ever wanted to go dumpster diving, Gilley?"

I shrugged. "Not particularly, but I guess I would be willing to give it a try if you insist."

And that, my friends, was how I found myself being relentlessly pushed towards the nearest dumpster that probably contained several weeks' worth of uneaten, rotten cafeteria food. Often at times, I wonder how I exactly manage to get myself into these situations. I'm sure taunting the bullies had something to do with it. I probably shouldn't do it, but heck the temptation was too strong to resist.

I turned my head to look at Queen Bee with an innocent smile. "So, how long do you want me to stay in the dumpster exactly? An hour is my limit – I have classes to attend to as well, you know."

Charlotte just stared before finally re-gathering her few remaining brain cells to shove me forwards against the metal of the container. "Just get into the dumpster you moron," she snapped.

I lifted my hands in mock surrender.

"Alright, alright – calm yourself," I reached up and grasped the rim of the dumpster, and then used my feet to climb myself up and over. I was pleasantly surprised when the several plastic bags full of decaying food created a nice cushiony feeling beneath me. Then I peered back down at the four girls, their faces proudly displaying victorious smirks.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," I said. "If I find anything good in here I'll make sure to pass it along."

The smirks swiftly disappeared and were replaced by looks of repulsion. "I want you to lie down in it and then shut the lid so you can't see anything. You'll stay in there until I say you can come out."

After releasing an exhale, I nodded. "You girls are sure not easy to please, I bet your parents must be huge fans of yours," I grinned when I heard the girls growl in offence. I then plopped myself down onto the pile of rubbish and was about to lie backwards when the hurried sounds of footsteps made me halt upright in a sitting position.

"Back off you...you stupidly overdressed girls!" shouted a voice that I was very much familiar with.

_Splat_ came the sound, followed by the surprised squeals of the four bullies.

As I looked over the rim of the dumpster, I just managed to catch a glimpse of the girls running away from behind the school building with a substance that suspiciously resembled oatmeal dripping from their hair and faces. Adjusting my glasses which had become slightly lopsided, I raised an eyebrow at the meek looking owner of the voice.

"_'Overdressed girls?_' Really? That was the best insult you could come up with Ash?" I questioned and a boy with untamed curly blond hair with dark brown eyes found a sudden interest in the floor.

"I don't like saying bad words." I heard him mumble.

"Hey, the oatmeal was a nice touch," I told him and then frowned. "Wait, was that your breakfast?"

"Maybe, but it doesn't matter – I can just get another bowl later," he peered up at me, his overly baggy clothes rustling in the wind. "Do you need any help getting down?"

"Nope. I got it," I swung my leg over the top of the dumpster, followed by the rest of my body until I finally had both my feet placed safely back on the ground. I brushed a hand through my long light brown hair, trying to sift out any remaining remnants of the dumpster that might've ended up caught. And then I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for the rescue."

Ash beamed happily. "No problem," we began to walk towards the front entrance of the school. "You know you shouldn't taunt them. It only makes it worse."

"I'm not just going to stand there and let them bully me without at least getting in a word or two," I replied firmly, my bag safely returned to its original position on my back instead of the floor. "You should've seen their faces though; it makes it a whole lot more worth it."

I may be taller than the average height of a twelve-year-old female at five foot three, but when it came to self-defence it was practically hopeless. My body was lanky, something that can be a major disadvantage when fighting. It's difficult to move out of the way of an approaching punch or kick, it makes you feel a bit awkward trying to shuffle your way around.

And then there were the glasses that have about a ninety-nine percent chance of being knocked off and shattered. If I had a dollar for the amount of times that had happened, I wouldn't even need to be in school in the first place.

Then there's Ash.

Trying to figure out Ash's age was a complicated mystery that I gave up on a few weeks after he arrived half-way through the school year. He was taller than me, probably older too, but he had a boyish look to him alongside the severe case of acne and voice breaks. It was like you come to one conclusion, only to have that simply obliterated by the next.

"Still," Ash said as we walked along through the hallway to our class. "You just made the consequences worse for yourself."

I sighed. "I know, I know. I'll just try to avoid them next time."

"That's the smartest choice," he nodded.

"What do we have first period anyway?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Social studies and then math," Ash looked down at his wristwatch that noted down that we were ten-minutes early to lessons. He glanced at me when my shoulders slumped in resignation. "Still take it that you're not having much fun with that dyslexia?"

I gave him an unimpressed look. "It isn't something that just goes away and Mr O'Neill always gives us these huge text-based worksheets. I tell him every time that I have trouble with it and yet he still doesn't listen."

"I'll help you," Ash said. "When he's not looking I'll explain what the topic is."

Thankfully, Ash did just that. Throughout the rest of the day, Ash would help me by detailing down the general topic of the lesson – whether it was pre-algebra or pre-Civil War history, he was there until the final bell went.

I found myself eagerly rushing out into the fresh Californian air of National City, embracing the early evening sun as it made its departure towards the horizon. "I will never ever get tired of this," I told my only friend when we reached the streets. "What about you? Ash?"

"Huh?"

I glanced at him. His eyes were darting all around us as if he was searching for something.

"What are you – _holy moley are those guys huge,_" I soon found myself gaping at the two men standing across the street that Ash had been warily staring at. "I don't know about you, but I don't think that's natural. They must be on steroids or something. I mean surely –"

"We should hurry up and get to your home now – don't look at them," Ash interrupted suddenly, his hand grasping my arm and tugging me back along the street.

A frown twisted itself upon my lips. "I mean, I get that they look intimidating and all, but I don't think they'd attack us for no reason Ash."

"You'd be surprised," he mumbled incoherently.

"What?"

"Nothing...don't worry, just come on," he had suddenly become skittish with nerves, something that was unusual for Ash. So unusual that I didn't protest as he practically tugged me all the way home. I watched as he constantly shot anxious glances over his shoulder until we finally reached my house at the end of a long, winding street.

As soon as the front door clicked shut behind us, he released a breath of relief. "That's better," he said.

"I think you were freaking out for no reason. They barely even looked at us."

"Yeah, but they were probably in that area for a reason," he replied.

This still didn't explain anything, and I was pretty sure my eyebrows knitted themselves together in confusion as I continued to stare at him. "Why wouldn't they be there? It's a public area, it's not a place that's off limits," I ran a hand through my hair. "Ash, what's wrong?"

He looked reluctant to speak for a moment; his eyes seemed distant as if pondering on a topic in his mind. And then just as he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted.

"Clara? Ash?" another voice called from the kitchen. There was the sound of someone shuffling down the laminate floor and I turned around to smile at my adoptive mother: Felicity Gilley. She was wearing an apron over her clothes along with a pair of slippers (a sign that she was in her cooking mood), her silvery blonde hair tied up into a neat bun.

The scent of something baking in the oven hit my nostrils. I watched as she smiled warmly at us from where she stopped at the foot of the stairs. "You're home early."

I could hear the radio playing from the kitchen. I recognised the song as _Here Comes The Sun _by the Beatles. "Yeah Ash here decided that were going to power walk home today," I shrugged. "Something spooked him."

My mom's face became etched with concern. "Really?" she said. "What did you see Ash?"

The said-boy placed his bag by the coat stand and wrung his hands together, glancing in my direction before turning to face Mom again. Apparently a silent message that I didn't get passed through them and she seemed to nod almost timidly in understanding. Then the smile reappeared, though this time it seemed almost forced.

"How about you two head on upstairs while I finish up with dinner?" she spoke again. "I made a raisin and currant cake for you both for afterwards –"

"Ooo," Ash seemed to perk up immediately at this. "Can I have some now?"

Mom shrugged. "I don't see why not – come with me to the kitchen and I'll cut you a slice. What about you, Clara? Would you like some now?"

I pulled a face. "I don't like raisins or currants. It tastes weird."

She rolled her eyes, though it seemed to bring back a naturalness into her smile as she guided Ash forwards to the kitchen. "Well then, you'll just have to wait until dinner to be fed again."

My stomach growled in protest, contradicting my brain that was repulsed by the idea of such a monstrosity of a cake. "That's fine with me," I said simply with a confident smirk.

_No it isn't_, my stomach told me, _I'm hungry so feed me._

I ignored it and carried on upstairs to my room, a little confused when my mom and Ash's conversation had just dropped to a hushed whisper as if they were afraid I'd overhear.

I crossed the hallway and swung open my door to see a middle-aged man with light brown hair and blue eyes smile at me from where he was sat on my bed. His hands were clasped together on his lap, and he wore a simple shirt, jeans and a pair of men's loafers. I quickly glanced behind me to make sure the coast was clear before closing the door and beaming.

"Hi Dad," I said simply. As I moved across the room to lean my bag against the cupboard, the figure of my dad rippled so that you could just see the faintest flickers of mist drift and swirl away from him until it reformed again. "School was pretty normal as usual."

His smile widened, standing to his feet. The sudden movement made more whirls of mist which this time took longer to reform. "That's good to hear Clara," he said in a voice that sounded echoic like he was standing in some large cavern rather than my room. "Those girls have finally left you alone?"

"Oh yeah," I lied. "They got fed up with me ages ago."

Dad looked so proud right at that moment that I felt a knot of guilt begin to form in my stomach. "I told you it would work, poppet. If you give them no reaction then they'll see that they have had no affect on you. Worked with me in my school days, I was sure it would work with you," I turned away and looked at the mirror standing against the wall. A pair of green eyes stared back at me – a green that Dad had said came from my biological mother.

In the background of the mirror, I saw my dad's smile twist into a frown. "Poppet? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just remembered how much homework I have to do in so little time," I said, moving to unzip my bag and tugging out my notebook. "Math homework, social studies and science. It's like they want us to have no life."

My dad chuckled; the mist swirled around him again. "I'm sure that's not the case. Homework helps your mind remember what it's already learnt – you'll need that for your exams."

I scoffed. "Yeah and then what about after those exams? All that information we've learnt will all just end up down the drain," I looked back up at him. "Like when am I ever going to need algebra in the future? It doesn't have anything to do with what I want to become."

"But you don't know what you even want to become yet, do you? Nobody really knows for sure at your age. You have so many paths to choose from that when it comes down to picking one, you can get stuck," he shrugged and stepped forwards. "Whatever you think you might want to do now will most likely change by the time you're sixteen, when it's time to leave school."

I placed down the social studies folder onto the floor and stared at the first paragraph entitled 'Age of Exploration', sighing when the text seemed to do their usual trick of blending together into a backwards mess of incomprehensible words.

"It's hard to do homework when I can't even read what it's actually telling me," I rubbed at my eyes and refocused them only to receive the same disappointing results. "Why can't I just be normal? Why can't I have a brain that has an actual shred of intelligence?"

His arm reached forwards to touch my shoulder, only for his hand to dissolve into a cloud of mist. I watched as a look of annoyance briefly crossed his face before he took a step backwards. "You are smart Clara – having dyslexia doesn't mean that you're dumb or without any intelligence...it just means you have to work a little harder than the other children," he looked down at the folder and then up again.

"I mean Pablo Picasso had dyslexia and look at him now, a trendsetting art icon. Then there's Steven Spielberg – a successful filmmaker who didn't have a proper diagnosis until he was sixty. Sixty! There's Albert Einstein-"

"Yeah because they actually had a talent in what they do," I interrupted with pursed lips. "If I actually have a talent in something, I haven't found it yet."

He knelt down on his knees. "You'll find it Clara; you just have to keep searching."

There was a knock on the door and my eyes widened in panic. "Clara?" Mom asked curiously from the other side of the door. I sprung to my feet, rushing over to the door and placing my hand over the handle so that I could stop it from turning if she attempted to open it.

"Are you alright?" her voice was now tinged with concern.

"Oh yeah! Totally – hold on a minute!" I closed my eyes, wishing for my father to vanish from the room and breathing a sigh of relief once I caught him evaporating into non-existence. I swung the door open, staring into the puzzled expression of my adoptive mother. "There we go. Sorry, I was just sorting through my school bag – I decided to prioritise my homework for this week."

She seemed unconvinced but apparently decided to let it slide; she stepped into the room, looking down at the scattered schoolwork. "I thought you were talking to someone."

"Uh that was probably me – I was talking to myself. I do that a lot," I looked back at the doorway expecting to see Ash's form standing out in the hall only to be surprised when the boy seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Where's Ash?" I asked.

She waved dismissively. "He's downstairs helping himself to my cake," she turned and smiled at me. "I just wanted to check on how you are."

I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but there was something about Mom that made her seem as though she was sad about something. She always seemed to have some melancholic vibes about her whenever she would look at me. I knew there was something she wasn't telling me about my other mom, the same Mom that left me and Dad alone when I was only a few months old.

Dad rarely says anything about her either, both when he was alive and dead.

"I'm fine Mom," I told her simply.

Mom raised an eyebrow, disbelievingly. "Ash told me that those girls picked on you again today."

_Of course he did_, I thought, _I'll make sure to pay him back for that later._

I shrugged my shoulders before moving over to my bed so I could sit down. "They do it all the time, it doesn't really bother me. Besides, the only reason they probably do it is because they don't have anything better to do. They get everything handed to them on a silver platter: money, parents," I winced when I realised my mistake and hurriedly tried to explain myself. "Not that I don't love you Mom – I do, I didn't mean that –"

She smiled warmly and I felt myself release an exhale.

"I know what you meant Clara and I take no offence to it," she sat down next to me, wrapping a hand around my shoulders so that she could pull me closer. "I understand you see, I never knew who my own real father was. He left when I was young, similar to what your mom did."

I peered at her. "You've never told me that before."

"I don't really like to talk about him," she continued after a pause. "I met him after a while – when I was around your own age. He explained why he couldn't be there when I was young and eventually I understood."

"So you forgave him?"

"Not right away," Mom insisted. "But after a while, it took time of course. These things always do."

I remained silent for a moment, processing this newly discovered information. It's weird to think in the ten years being within the care of my adoptive mom, I had never known that.

"What's his name?" the words left my mouth before I knew it.

She patted my shoulder. "I think that will be a story for another day," she got up from the bed and gestured towards the door. "Come on. Dinner is ready, I made vegetable carbonara."

"Is that another one of those new recipes you decided to try? Please tell me it doesn't have mushrooms."

My mom released a melodramatic sigh with a shake of her head. "You are the fussiest child. What's wrong with mushrooms? They did nothing to you."

"They taste horrible and they have a weird texture. They remind me of slugs whenever I eat them."

"Of course they do."

"They do!" I insisted.


	2. Two giants have a campfire

**2.**

_Two giants have a campfire on my front yard_

_and oh, my best-friend is a half-goat._

I was never much of a deep sleeper.

Any simple noise such as the pipes creaking and clanking within the house walls would bring me back from whatever depths of sleep I'd been. Most of the time it could be annoying, especially after being woken up several times during one night over something as small as a cat meowing outside my bedroom window.

However other times, much like this one, it can be very helpful.

I couldn't remember exactly what I was dreaming about at the time, it was one of those dreams where you immediately forget the contents of upon waking. But at around one o'clock in the morning, I found my eyes snapping open in alarm at the distant _thwack _that sounded as if it was coming from the front garden.

_Thwack...thwack_...it continued, like someone was chopping up logs of wood with an axe.

I sat upwards, staring across the room at the window where a small amount of silvery moonlight drifted into room through the small gap in the closed curtains. I could briefly see the silhouetted outline of the opposite house, but nothing that could've explained the source of the bizarre noise. If I wanted to know where it was coming from, I would have to go closer towards the window. Everyone knows in horror movies that investigating a strange noise never ends well.

They usually end up being the first ones to be killed and that was something I'd rather avoid.

But the annoying urge to see what it was overwhelmed anything else. Hesitantly, I pushed the duvet back to the ends of my bed, shivering as the cool air hit my bare arms. During the night-time, I usually didn't plan for any late night adventures so the pyjamas I wore to bed were a simple white t-shirt and a pair of red & white plaid flannel pants. The heating in the house wasn't turned on as expected; usually the air was humid at this time of the year – leaving no reason to have it on unless you wanted to be cooked alive.

_Thwack...thwack _came the sounds again, bringing my attention back to the window. I stepped forwards reluctantly and peeled back one side of the curtains to peer into the front yard of the house.

An uncomfortable feeling of horror formed in my stomach once I saw the culprit. The two men that me and Ash saw earlier outside the school were camped out on the lawn, the beginnings of a campfire crackling and spitting in its build to cook something. I wouldn't like to know what.

The men were huge, at least eight-foot-tall from what I could see with muscles beyond my comprehension. Their arms were covered in tattoos that I couldn't quite make out from up here. Both of them had long, shaggy black untameable hair along with two large iron clubs that were led out on the grass beside them and were wearing long swimming shorts.

One was chopping up a pile of logs (likely gathered from the nearby woods) and then the other was piling it up around the growing flames to feed it. It looked as though they were preparing for a feast but whatever it was they were going to roast was nowhere to be seen.

I placed back the curtains, my heart hammering. Who the hell were they? And how did Ash know them?

_Mom and Ash_ – I need to tell them.

As quickly and quietly as possible, I changed into some jeans, a t-shirt, a red jacket and placed on my glasses before tip-toeing along the corridor to the guest room where Ash was staying for the night. The door creaked slightly as I opened it and rushed in.

Ash was sprawled over the single guest bed, his bottom half wrapped up in a thin blanket while he snored loudly to himself.

"_Ash_," I whispered sharply. "Wake up dude."

The only response I got was something resembling, "Eating grass – so much juicy grass," before he turned over onto his stomach, his snoring ricocheting off the walls.

I opened and shut my mouth, perplexed and then shook my head. Now was definitely not the time to go over Ash's bizarre eating habits. This time I stepped forwards to his bed and shook him violently until his startled eyes popped open in surprise. "Ash there's people in the front yard."

He blinked at me blearily, trying to bring his brain back into gear. "What?" he said.

"Those men we saw hanging around our school," I continued, trying my best to remain calm. "They've set up a campfire in my front yard."

This seemed to bring him tumbling straight back to reality. He sat bolt upright, his eyes widened with the sudden panic that I had felt before. "Let me see –" I stepped back to allow him to climb out of the bed but then he halted, his hands falling still on his lap.

"What's wrong?"

Ash seemed to ponder something for a moment, took a breath, and then pulled back the blanket that had been hiding his legs. Instead of his usual pyjama-clad legs I was expecting, a pair of what-appeared-to-be hairy goat legs and hooves planted themselves on the bedroom floor.

I stared at them, my mind trying to form some kind of reasonable explanation.

Noticing my expression, Ash winced slightly as he stood up. "I'll explain later, you need to wake up your mom," and then he disappeared out the room and down the hallway towards my one.

"My best friend is half goat," I stated to myself.

I had hoped that saying it out-loud would help it make more sense however it just made it sound more absurd.

Eventually I managed to get myself to move over to my mom's bedroom on the opposite side of the hallway. My hands grasped the handle, expecting to see her still snuggled up in bed asleep only to take note of the light seeping out from underneath the door.

I swung the door open just as she was grabbing what looked like to be a large bow from the crate that she had always kept underneath her bed. She froze and stared at me whilst I took notice of the packed luggage bags lined along the walls. "You have a bow and arrows," I said simply. "Of course you do. What else do you have, do you have a sword as well?"

Ash hurried in with a sword and I shook my head.

My mom hurried over and shut the door. "We have to move now. I've packed up your clothes Clara along with some of your personal possessions so you won't have to worry about that."

"Wait – wait slow down I don't understand. Is this about those guys down there?"

"I think it's better if we explain what's going on once we're in the car and moving," Ash said sombrely, he held out his hand and gave me the bronze sword that gleamed in the lamp light.

It had a long thin double edged blade with a length of just over half a metre. I grasped the regular looking black hilt and Ash stared at me with a serious expression on his face. "You just have to trust us. Whatever happens and me or Miss Gilley don't make it, you have to run. There's a camp you need to go to, called Camp Half-Blood. It's in New York, a place in the southeast of the Long Island Sound."

My eyes widened. "Long Island Sound? New York? That's on the other side of the country! And what do you mean if you or Mom doesn't make it? _Who are they?_"

Mom swung a quiver around her back, filled to the brim with sharp arrows. Her long bow gripped tightly in her hand and it was then I noticed how pale her face had gotten. She was terrified but she managed to keep herself together as she looked at me. "Those _creatures _down there are called Laistrygonian Giants. They are a race of cannibals from the north. They like to eat humans but in particular: demigods."

"Demigods," I repeated.

Both of them nodded.

"And those are giants who eat demigods."

They nodded again.

I rubbed my eyes underneath my glasses, trying to sift through my thoughts. "So Ash is a demigod," I pointed to the goat half of his body. "They're after him?"

He shook his head. "I'm not a demigod – that's what you are. I'm a satyr and your protector."

This time I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head. "I don't understand..."

Mom stepped forwards, resting a hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. "It's okay. You'll understand eventually but right now we don't have the time to explain everything," she said, barely contained sparks of panic in her eyes. "Once we're safe and away from the giants you can ask all the questions you like. Just please understand that we need to leave. _Now_."

The loud crashing noise signalling the door being smashed open made my mind up for me.

There was sound of roaring from downstairs and I felt the blood drain from my face. Mom grabbed my arm, shoving my towards the door where I grasped the handle and flung it open. I raced to the top of the stairs, only stopping when a humanoid shape emerged from the bottom, a large iron club in his hands.

I felt Ash grasp my shoulders from behind, tugging me backwards. "We have to climb down from the window and go around," he said and pulled me all the way towards the end of the hallway.

Mom had already begun to drop the packed bags of luggage down to the ground.

"Go Clara!" he shouted as heavy footsteps thundered on the stairs.

My mom stretched her hand out towards me and led me to the open window. The crisp night air had a chill to it as I swung my leg over the windowsill and grabbed onto the clumps of ivy that had clung to the brick wall beneath the window. I could hear my blood roaring in my ears whenever the plant would tear off in my hand, making me almost lose my balance.

Finally, I reached the ground of the back garden, landing in a flowerbed full of hyacinths. Mom dropped down shortly behind me, releasing a grunt as she landed.

I looked upwards at the window, just as Ash began climbing out. "Ash! Watch out!" I shouted.

But my warning was too little too late. Ash didn't see the large, muscular arm reaching out after him until it had him by the scruff of the neck. He let out a strangled yelp, trying to claw desperately at the hand holding him to no prevail. "No!"

I went to run towards the ivy again only to be tugged violently backwards by my mother.

I watched in horror as my only friend was dragged back into the house. I spun around to face my mom angrily and picked up the sword that I had dropped from the climb down. "We need to save him," I demanded. "We can't let them eat him – he's my friend! Mom please!"

She pursed her lips together, and looked back up at the window. "They've taken him back to their campsite. Two demigods won't be able to overpower two Laistrygonians Clara, it's too dangerous."

_Two demigods?_ That was a question for later.

"He risked his life for mine yet you won't do the same for him. That's not fair – we need to help him even with the risks," I took a step forwards, gaining her attention back from the open window. "Please Mom. We can't leave him, he's my only friend."

It took a few painstaking minutes but eventually she nodded.

"Okay," I released an exhale but my mom wasn't finished. "-But we give it one shot only. Any sign of you being in immediate danger we run with or without Ash."

I stared at her. "Ash's life isn't any less worthy than mine Mom."

Mom said nothing.

*~PJ~*

She was the first one to poke her head around the corner of the wall, scanning the front lawn where Ash had been taken. Mom looked back around at me and lowered her voice into a whisper. "They've got him tied up near the campfire," she informed me, her face lined with concern. "I'll be the one to draw their attention. Whilst their distracted, untie Ash, run to the car and wait for me there until I get back."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "But you could get hurt. I want to help you –"

"No," Mom said firmly. "Stick with the plan, I don't want you to go anywhere near those giants. Once I have them distracted, go and untie Ash. He'll know what to do if I don't return."

"But –"

"Clara," her voice was even sterner now.

Reluctantly, I agreed.

"Okay," I said and she nodded, looking relieved by the way her shoulders slumped. A smile broke out on her face, stepping forwards to place a kiss on my forehead before turning away.

She tugged out an arrow, nocked it into place and stepped out into the open lawn, her brow knitted together in concentration. Her pale blue eyes focused on the two cannibals preparing to eat my friend. I stepped forwards so that I could peer around the corner of the wall.

Ash was sat a few metres away from the campfire, his arms and hooves (still haven't got used to that) tied up with Mom's garden hose. One of the Laistrygonian's iron clubs had been led out next to him whilst the giants began to set up the fire for their new meal. I stared at the opposite houses, not one had their lights on or had seemingly heard any of the commotion.

My focus returned to my mom who was marching forwards at a steady pace, letting an arrow fly straight into the shoulder of one of the giants.

"You want something to eat?" she called out loudly and I waved at Ash once he'd spotted me by the side of the house, his eyes widening. "Well you'll just have to fight for it!"

One of them ripped out the arrow from his shoulder, growled and charged forwards, swinging his iron club uncoordinatedly. Mom sprinted and ducked under the offensive blow, skidding onto her knees and using the opening to shoot an arrow upwards. The arrow shot straight through the bottom of the giant's chin and out of the top of his head.

For a moment, the giant stumbled as if stunned before dissolving into a pile of dust all over the ground. I had to blink to make sure that was what I really saw. Mom jumped to her feet and stared down the final giant.

It was then I realised I was supposed to help Ash.

I sprinted across the lawn towards him and began untying the garden hose that had been wrapped tightly around him. "You should've left," he insisted. "That was the plan if anything like this happened."

"I wasn't going to do that," I replied firmly. "You're stupid to think that I would ever do that. Your life is just as valuable as mine."

He stood up onto his hooves, rubbing his sore arms. "It's my job to protect _you_, not the other way around."

I shook my head. "I don't care what your job is. You're my best friend and best friends don't leave each other behind. Not if they can help it."

A grateful smile broke out across his face but then the sound of large thudding footsteps soon wiped it straight off. "Watch –" he began to warn.

I suddenly felt the wind knocked out of me as the last giant's muscular arm slammed straight into my stomach. I think I must've flown an impressive two metres before landing in a heap on the grass. My glasses fell off, shattering upon impact on the concrete path behind me. Getting sucker punched is never a pleasant feeling folks, the pain was nothing like I'd ever felt before.

"Clara!" I heard someone shout in the distance as I cradled my stomach. Blinking through the tears, I reached for my sword, grasping the handle and lifting it upwards shakily in the air.

Mom had begun frantically nocking arrow after arrow, racing forwards as the Laistrygonian marched towards me. His huge mouth twisted into a victorious grin, revealing to me his disgusting row of yellow pointed teeth with the capability of tearing through human flesh. Scrambling desperately to me feet, I weakly pointed the sword towards him.

"Demigod," the giant stated, his voice loud and booming, echoing all around us. I wasn't sure how the neighbours hadn't been woken up yet. My knees shook, and I barely managed to roll out of the way of his iron club as it was launched towards me.

I swung the sword backwards blindly; it barely grazed the giant's stomach. He quickly sent my sword clattering to the ground; I waited for the impending blow as the club was brought down towards my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, muttering a thousand apologies and wishing that my life didn't have to end here and then...nothing.

There was an odd silence besides the whistling of the wind through the trees.

After a moment, I cracked open an eye.

Instead of standing in some kind of afterlife, I was in fact a good five or ten metres away from where I was about to be splattered by the Laistrygonian giant. I was standing back next to Ash who was staring at me with a bewildered expression on his face. But to be honest I was just as surprised as he was.

What in the world just happened?

The Laistrygonian's club was now wedged into the soft mud of the lawn, the giant trying to tug at it to no prevail. Mom seemed to be the first one to recover from this bizarre development and sent several arrows flying towards the giant. With two sickening thuds both of them impaled themselves into his head. The monster's eyes rolled upwards and he, like his friend, exploded into dust.

She smiled at both of us though I didn't quite have the time to return it because my knees buckled and I was out before my head hit the ground.


	3. Some woman gives me advice

**3.**

_Some woman gives me advice_

_I think her name was Danvers?_

I woke up sprawled across the backseat of a moving car, a woolly blanket draped over my body.

My eyes focused on the sky displayed outside the window, it was still night-time and the moon gleamed proudly, dotted with several twinkling stars. It was a pleasant sight and alongside the continuous thrum of the car engine, it almost lulled me to sleep again.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty," I looked around at Ash who was sat grinning at me from the passenger seat.

Rubbing my eyes, I let out a groan. "Don't call me that you buffoon."

"Actually, I'm a satyr – half goat, half man."

"Nope," I said, shaking my head. "You're a buffoon to me. A satyr to everyone else."

Ash pulled his lips into a pout, though there was amusement mixed with relief sparkling in his dark brown eyes as he watched me. "Rude."

"Deal with it," I shrugged.

"Jokes aside," spoke my mom, turning my focus onto her.

I could briefly see her reflection in the rear mirror of the car, and although her eyes were trained onto the road, her face was lined with concern and worry. "You gave us quite a scare there Clara. I thought..." she drifted off, her voice brittle as if she was trying to stop herself from crying.

After a deep breath, she glanced at Ash. "In my bag by your feet there should be a few squares of ambrosia. Give one to her; she needs it after expelling all that energy."

He nodded and reached into the rucksack tucked underneath his seat. "Getting hit in the stomach made me pass out?" I asked in bemusement. "I only thought that made you have some major stomach pain, not make you feel as though your life just got drained out of you."

"That injury contributed towards it but no, that's not what made you pass out. That teleporting trick you did at the very last minute is what did it," she informed me and my expression formed into a more puzzled one.

"Hold on – you're telling me I _teleported_?"

Ash leaned over and handed me a piece of the ambrosia Mom was talking about earlier. I stared at the bizarre looking piece of food, wondering what it was made out of. I've never seen it before.

"It won't poison you," Ash chuckled. "Eat it."

I took a bite.

The taste of warm freshly buttered popcorn filled my mouth and a newfound sense of energy flooded through me. "Yes you did, it was quite a surprise – both for us and the giant. His club got stuck in the ground, leaving me an opening to kill him," she explained and I took another bite of the ambrosia as she continued talking. "Do you know how you did it?"

I shook my head, lifting myself into a sitting position.

"I'm not sure. I know I was thinking about being somewhere else and then I was next to Ash. I had my eyes closed," and then a thought occurred to me and I raised an eyebrow. "You owe me an explanation about what the hell that was all about. You said something about demigods? Are they people who are half-human, half-god? Because that's just...that's just impossible. I mean they're just something of myth, right?"

Ash gave me a sympathetic look. "Demigods are no myths and neither are the Greek gods. One of them is your parent after all."

"The Greek gods," I said simply. "You mean like Zeus, Poseidon..."

"That's the ones," Mom chirped. "Though there's a whole lot more gods than just Zeus and Poseidon. Sometimes they fall in love with mortals and the result is well...demigods. Most of the demigods born make it to a place called Camp Half-Blood which is a safe haven from the monsters. That's where we're taking you, if we can make it to the airport in time that is."

It took a while to process this information. "So...Greek mythology is real? They're not just myths?"

"Not in the slightest," Ash said.

"And I'm a demigod? And that's why those things were at our house?"

"That's right."

I turned and looked at Mom again. "And you're one as well? You said something about two demigods being useless against those giants – you meant yourself, right?"

After a moment, she nodded. "My father is Apollo. The god of music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sun, light and knowledge," she let out a sigh. "My mother sung for money – sometimes in theatres, restaurants or out on the high street. She caught Apollo's attention and the rest is history. I met him when I was fourteen but that's really it. I don't know whether he's really thought about me since then."

"It's my biological mom that's the god, isn't it? Dad couldn't have been a god because he died and I'm guessing the gods' can't do that."

Ash shrugged. "They can fade from existence but yeah your bio mom is the god."

"Which one?"

"We don't know. You won't know until she claims you, which she'll hopefully do once you get to Camp Half-Blood," Mom explained. "I've had my theories but they're probably way off the mark –"

"Did you know I was a demigod right from the beginning?" I blurted out.

There was silence for a while, as though Mom was pondering on how to answer my question.

"Not at first," she said eventually, her finger tapping against the steering wheel. "I did eventually realise once I had more monsters than usual swarming at me. Then Ash arrived home with you one day and that's when I knew for sure. I had just hoped I was wrong."

This confused me. "Why?"

She sighed again.

"Being a demigod...well sometimes most demigods don't live to reach adulthood. Most of the time they don't even reach Camp Half-Blood before they're slaughtered..." Mom shivered in her seat. "I was among the rare lucky ones. I want you to be one of those lucky ones too. I want you to live until your old and grey instead of killed in a time where you haven't even properly seen the world yet. When I was younger I had a friend...Billy his name was – a child of Hermes. He was killed by monsters on a quest."

I watched as Mom blinked a few stray traitorous tears away.

"He was at your age – fifteen and he just died in such a horrific way...I couldn't really bear the thought of that happening to you. You're my child and mothers are meant to protect their children but that's rather difficult to do when the things that want to do you harm are supernatural creatures from myth," she chuckled dryly to herself. "It's why you have to go to Camp Half-Blood. That way you won't get hurt or killed and that's the place I should've put you ages ago before those giants attacked us."

"I don't want to be away from you," I insisted, grasping the edges of my mom's seat. "I want to stay with you here. Who's going to keep you safe as well?"

"I'll be fine," she gave me a watery smile. "I survived well on my own until I adopted you. I'm sure I'll be able to do it again. At least I'll have the knowledge that you won't be harmed again like before. You'll have plenty of people like you to talk to. They'll understand just as well as me."

*~PJ~*

When we arrived at the San Diego International Airport, Mom informed me that she had booked seats for only me and Ash on a five-hour and twenty minute non-stop flight to JFK Airport in New York City. Ash had arranged for someone to pick us up and to take us to this Camp Half-Blood when we got there.

Our teary goodbye reminded me why I always hated doing them.

They always seemed so final and you never know whether you'll actually see that person again. Mom pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, her tears soaking my jacket and mine doing the same to hers. I was reluctant to let go of her when the hug ended, but I finally released her.

She placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "You'll always be able to come back here for holidays, they always allow that," she told me softly. "This won't be the last time you see me."

"I don't understand why you can't come with us. You're a demigod, which means you can walk over the barrier and stay in the camp. You'll be safe too," I pleaded, praying to whatever deity that would be willing to listen that she would say yes. Alas, my prayers were apparently not heard."

"I think I'm a bit too old for that camp now, my dear. I promise you I'll be fine. I'll write to you at every chance I get and maybe even a few Iris messages."

"Iris messages?"

She waved off my question, dismissively. "Ash will explain that all to you I'm sure. You're going to be late for your flight and it definitely wasn't cheap to get these last minute tickets," she gave me a gentle nudge. "Go on. I'll be fine – daughter of Apollo, remember?"

Everything seemed as though they'd never get better when I sat myself down in the waiting lounge, my rucksack placed on my lap. Ash sat down beside me, and glanced at my sombre expression.

"This is for the best Clara," he placed a hand on my shoulder. "And your mom's the craziest fighter I've ever known. She'll be fine, really – now that she knows you'll be safe anyhow."

"I know," I told him, but it didn't make me feel any better.

"Here," he picked up something that was leant against his seat; the sword that Mom had given me gleamed under the fluorescent lights of the airport. The bronze looked as though it'd been freshly cleaned with no signs of tonight's battle tainted on its blade. "This belongs to you."

My eyes darted around the waiting area in a panic; I grasped the handle of the sword and quickly tucked it underneath my chair. "What are you doing? They might see it."

"Nah," Ash said, without a shred of worry in his voice. Now that I was looking, it appeared as though the other passengers had not noticed the sword at all. "The Mist obscures its true form from mortals. How did you think I got it through security?"

Carefully, as if the weapon as made of glass, I lifted the sword back up into the light and examined it and still none of the other passengers paid even the slightest attention. They either continued reading their magazines or tapped away at their laptops with a look of concentration on their faces.

"See," Ash smirked. "They can't see anything."

"What is this?"

"It's a sword."

I rolled my eyes. "I think I've realised that Captain Obvious. I meant what type of sword is it? What's it made out of?"

He shrugged.

"Miss Gilley told me that it was recently made, a broadsword to be exact. It was used in early modern military times, not in ancient. She called it Augury," Ash said, his eyes fixated on the said-sword with interest. "And as its metal, it's made out of celestial bronze mined by Cyclops on Mount Olympus. Then it's shaped in Mount Etna and cooled in the River Lethe. It's the only metal that can harm demigods, gods and monsters but it can't hurt mortals."

I blinked. "I only understood half of what you just said."

"Yeah you'll understand it all eventually," he informed me, leaning back against the chair, brushing a hand through his blond fringe. "It takes a lot getting used to."

"No kidding," I replied dryly.

Ash's eyes softened, sitting upright again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing it's just..." I released a sigh. "I don't understand why you and Mom couldn't have told me all this way before we were attacked by those giant things. I could've been more cautious and then we might've been able to actually stay in National City with her."

"It's because she wanted you to have the most normal childhood possible. Usually when demigods know that they're what they are, it makes it a whole lot more dangerous which is why most of them are sent straight to Camp Half-Blood after finding out," he explained. "Believe me it will be a lot safer for you there then in National City Clara. And once you're old enough, you'll be able to go straight back."

I remained silent for a moment before standing up.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I informed him, leaning the sword against my chair. He looked up at me sceptically. "Don't worry I'm not going to try and do a runner."

"You better not," Ash scoffed. "Cause I'll drag your butt right back."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah right. I'm pretty sure I'm stronger than you."

"I wouldn't bet on that sunshine."

"I would actually," I gave him a gentle whack around the head.

"Ow," he moaned, rubbing his beanie-clad head that concealed his horns from mortals. That would be a difficult one to explain if they ever saw them.

"And _do not _call me sunshine."

"Meanie."

I waited until the ladies' bathroom was empty until I summoned him, closing my eyes and humming his name under my breath. Mist began to gather around from each corners of the room. It flooded into one particular spot, forming into one shape. Slowly, it grew larger and larger, solidifying into a humanoid shape until a pair of blue eyes blinked at me.

"Clara," my dad's voice was its usual echoed self. His eyes looked around the several empty stalls and then back at me again. "What's going on – are you at an airport?"

"We were attacked – Mom, me and Ash."

I searched his eyes as I said this, trying to see if he somehow knew anything about who I truly was. His eyes briefly flickered to the side. "W-What do you mean attacked? Was it a robbery –"

"Stop it," I said firmly. "I know you know. You knew who my bio mom really was, didn't you?"

Dad seemed to swallow a lump in his throat. It took a while for him to form some kind of response for me. "I knew she was a god," he said eventually, his words slow. "She told me all about the Greek myths and how the tales were all real. At first I never believed her but then she showed me what she could do...and then by that time you were born and she had to leave."

"What was her real name? What is she the god of?"

He shook his head. "She never told me her true name. I never wanted to ask –"

"Then she's the reason I can do this," I gestured to his misty form. "She's the reason I can speak to spirits like you, right? It must be."

"Y-Yes she's the reason why."

"And yet not once in all those times I summoned you did you tell me the truth," my fists clenched by my side, grinding my teeth. "That information would've been quite helpful _Dad_."

"You have to understand Clara," he pleaded with me. "I wanted you to have a normal life –"

"Yes," I interrupted him bitterly. "Because talking to my father who's been dead for almost ten years is completely normal. I already knew something was up – I just wanted to know _why_. And you knew why, this whole time. You knew the reason!"

"Poppet –"

"Don't."

The door to the bathrooms opened and I quickly sent him away, his form dispersing into mist once again.

An elderly lady shuffled into the room, scowling at me as I pretended to wash my hands in the sink. "Lovely morning, isn't it?" I smiled, nodding my head in greeting and hoping that she hadn't heard any of the conversation that just took place.

"Its night time," the lady grumped in response, looking as though she was trying to suss out my secrets.

"Is it really?" I queried nonchalantly with a shrug, I headed past her towards the door. "Whoops – my bad. It's the jet lag probably; it's doing things to my brain."

I didn't completely know what jet lag was, but it seemed to be the right thing to say as the lady gave up after a while. Toddling towards one of the stalls by the far end of the bathroom and for a moment, I stared at the once again vacant space where my dad had just been, feeling an inkling of guilt start to gnaw at my stomach.

I had been a bit harsh, but I was just so annoyed.

Shouldn't I have had the right to know who my mom really was? I was the one with her blood running through my veins after all. I felt even worse than before when I sat back down next to Ash who was impressively working his way through an apple.

"You took a long time," he stated with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Yeah there was a long queue. Some old lady was holding most of it up."

*~PJ~*

I truly hated flying.

The five hour flight from San Diego to New York did not change my perspective in anyway. It was infuriating not being able to do anything – I needed to be up and about, not sitting around doing nothing. I caught my knee bobbing up and down from repeatedly tapping my foot on the floor, my nails drumming into the armrest of the chair.

"Can you quit it?" a young woman with short auburn hair and dark brown eyes snapped impatiently from beside me. I had obviously been distracting her from whatever was contained in the stack of files in her hands.

"Sorry," I mumbled and rested my hands on my lap.

My eyes drifted upwards to the overhead compartment where my rucksack and sword were safely tucked away. I imagined if the flight attendants knew what it really was they'd probably have a melt-down.

Then there was Ash (I envied him) who had fallen asleep as soon as the plane took off. His head rested against the window, mouth wide open and loud snores echoed out. Sometimes he would mutter something about 'juicy grass' or 'hot naiads', leaving me to awkwardly come up with some reasonable explanation for our neighbours who would shoot odd looks in our direction.

I myself couldn't sleep, not mainly because of Ash (that dude had problems) but because my mind was still racing from everything that had happened. I was half expecting to wake up at any moment and be back at home, the morning sun streaming through my bedroom window. But alas this was the reality, I was really what they call a _demigod_ – my bio mom was a freaking _Greek god_. I don't think I was ever going to get used to that. Everything about my life had just been turned upside down and I doubted it was ever going to resemble anything normal again.

"Alright," I jumped as the woman let out a sigh, shutting the file at the top of the pile. I briefly saw the name _Danvers_ scrawled at the top of the paper but it was quickly moved aside. "What's up with you? I could hear you thinking from a mile away."

I knitted my brows. "Nothing."

"Really?" the woman arched an eyebrow at the movement. "You're doing the same thing my sister does when she's lying. You can tell me you know, I'm not going to bite."

"I don't know you."

She shrugged. "Shouldn't make a difference. You'll never see me again after this flight so whatever you tell me I won't tell anyone else. I have no need too," then her expression softened. "It just looks like you could use someone to talk to."

I found myself rubbing the tiredness out of my eyes, my shoulders in resignation. "It's just something happened, everything I knew has changed and now I don't even know what to think," I told the woman, being careful not to reveal too much information. "I have to go to this strange place because of it and I have no idea whether I'm going to actually fit in or not."

There was silence for a while, the woman obviously taking careful consideration of this information. "Oh I totally know the feeling," she said eventually, causing me to look up at her. She continued with a smile. "There were a few major changes in my life when I was younger too, I didn't like the change at first."

"How did you get over it?"

"Well...I kind of had no choice other than to accept it but y'know what – I'm glad that I did," the woman leant backwards in her chair, still peering at me. "The change was for the better and I definitely wouldn't have it any other way if I was to choose. It just takes time and eventually you'll understand why everything that happened did, I promise you."

I chewed on this bit of information, staring at the back of the seat in front of me. "I just hope that's true."

"It is," the woman insisted, her hands reached for the files again, placing them back on her lap. "Now, are you gonna sit still so I can get on with this?"

I nodded and her smile widened.

"Good," she said, and then she gestured towards Ash. "You should get some sleep like he's doing – a kid like you shouldn't be awake at this time. You'll need the strength when you get to New York."

And surprisingly, that's what I ended up doing and I was claimed by sleep for the rest of the journey.

I dreamt of a dark-haired woman I didn't recognise, her mouth twisted into a cruel smirk only for the scene to change. My mom was at up alone in her bed, the lamp light switched on but her book was discarded on the bedside table. Her hands grasped the edges of a wooden framed photograph; I recognised the picture of myself and her when we travelled to a beach one day.

I must've been at least seven at the time but I remember the day just as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. Eventually, after a while, she placed the photo-frame back on the table, switched off the light and went to sleep.


	4. Our driver has lots of eyes

**4.**

_Our driver has one-hundred eyes_

_and the activities director is a half-horse._

_What's next?_

It was Ash who shook me awake as the plane began its descent towards the runway of JFK Airport.

I blinked the blurriness out of my eyes and began gathering my things; I wouldn't be able to retrieve my sword and rucksack from the overhead compartment until we had stopped completely. After gradually come to a halt, the passengers flocked down the aisle towards the exit. The Danvers woman gave me a comforting smile before heading off with the rest of them.

Ash looked at me. "Do you know each other?"

I shook my head. "No but she spoke to me for a while."

"What about?"

I shrugged, before reaching up at the handle of the compartment and pushing it open. "She wanted to know why two kids were travelling on their own," I told him, sliding the rucksack down and then over my shoulder. Augury, my sword, almost clattered to the floor had I not somehow managed to grab it in time. One passenger looked at it, a look of bemusement crossing their features before they toddled off down the aisle again.

I turned back to Ash. "Are you sure they can't see it?"

"Believe me there would be a whole lot more panic if they could," he responded, his own rucksack slung over his back. "Come on, let's go – he'll be waiting for us in the parking lot."

"Who?" I queried.

He grinned at me from over his shoulder. "You'll just have to wait and find out."

"I hate you."

"Nah," he shook his head, a smirk still stretched across his lips as he led the way through the aisle and towards the impatiently waiting flight attendants by the exit. "You love me really. I'm your only friend; a life without me would be a life without grass."

"I would be fine without grass."

"Okay yeah that was a bad comparison."

It was rather easy to find the man or whatever he was that was picking us up. From afar, the mean leant against the van that was printed with '_Delphi Strawberry Service'_, looked like your typical muscular blond dude with his arms dropped down by his sides. But then when you got closer – oh boy it is a different story. I had to restrain myself from gasping in surprise at the man's one-hundred freaking blue eyes covering his entire body.

All of them swerved to look at us and I briefly wondered whether he ever got dizzy from moving them altogether like that. "His name is Argus," Ash informed me. "He's the security guard at Camp Half-Blood. I asked Chiron to send him."

"Argus and who?"

"Chiron is a centaur and the activities director of the camp. You'll meet him soon enough," he told me just as we reached were Argus was standing. Argus moved his one-hundred eyes back and forth between me and Ash. The satyr took a step forwards, gesturing towards me. "This is Clara – a demigod I found in California. She needs to go to the camp."

Argus seemed to get the message as he helped pile our bags into the van and then ushered us into our seats and we were off. It took more than an hour of cruising through the New York City traffic until we reached what seemed to be a farm road and then eventually stopping.

Ash was the first to climb out, opening his arms out wide as if embracing the air. "Home sweet home," he said, grinning back at me. Although all I could see was a long fence that had the sign '_Pick Your Own Strawberries Please' _attached. "Come on Clara."

I dragged myself out of the van and walked behind Ash as he led the way towards the camp, Argus carrying our belongings with him. I offered to take one of the bags but apparently he seemed adamant that they remained with him. Unconsciously, I found my hand hovering over the handle of Augury where it was tucked against my rucksack. I knew that Argus was unlikely to harm me, but still every time I looked at him I had the sudden urge to reach for the weapon.

_It's not as if I can use it anyway, _I thought. I was terrible at fight, as I clearly established whilst fighting the Laistrygonian giants.

We continued along until we reached a patch of strawberry fields and a large, sky-blue house came into view. Then my eyes fell on the rest of the camp, I felt my jaw drop open. "It's impressive, isn't it?" Ash smirked when he noticed my expression. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

There was so much to the camp that I didn't know what to focus on. There was a volleyball court, a forge, an armoury and in the distance a climbing wall that looked rather dangerous. "T-This is insane – how has nobody noticed all this?" I asked, as I noted down the beginnings of the sea and the beach upon the distant horizon.

The water looked particularly mesmerising in the morning sun.

"I told you, it's the Mist. A supernatural force that hides our world from mortals," Ash said amusedly, he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, let's go meet Chiron."

So apparently a centaur is a person who is half-man and half-horse (apparently the Greeks loved their hybrids) and the camp's very own said-centaur was standing in front of what Ash called the Big House.

From the waist up, Chiron appeared to be a middle-aged man with long thinning brown hair, bushy eyebrows and brown eyes accompanied with a scruffy beard. If you kept your focus on his top half, with his formal clothing, you would think he was a regular human and then you look down and then oh wait – there's the torso of a white stallion where his legs should be.

He had his arms crossed, his face lost in a thoughtful expression until he noticed us arriving. "Ash, my dear satyr," he called out, walking out to meet us, his hooves making a continuous _clip-clop clip-clop_ sound until he stopped. "You're back and I see you've acquired a demigod."

Ash straightened his back proudly. "My first one."

"Indeed," a small smile formed across the centaur's face, and then he turned towards me. "And what might your name be?"

"Clara Gilley."

He furrowed his eyebrows briefly as if the name sounded familiar but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Chiron nodded. "And your parentage?"

"She doesn't know yet," Ash answered for me. "But it's her mom that's the god –"

Chiron held up a hand. "I believe Clara can speak for herself."

I watched with vague amusement as Ash's face flushed an embarrassed crimson, he pulled the beanie off of his head and ran a hand through the messy blond locks. "Sorry sir," he mumbled, looking awkwardly at his feet until Chiron spoke again.

"It's quite alright Ash – how about you return to the other satyrs and announce your return while I walk Clara around the camp," Ash meekly nodded, before taking his bag from Argus and trotting further into the camp.

The one-hundred-eyed man then wandered towards the Big House and once the door clicked shut, the camp activities director looked back at me with a smile. "So Clara, I take it Ash has fully welcomed you to the camp?" he gestured for them to start walking.

I nodded my head. "He was very enthusiastic about it."

"Ah yes, Ash is a very enthusiastic satyr and will do about anything in his attempt to impress both me and his peers. Sending him to California was his first search mission, you see, a chance to prove himself," Chiron exhaled. "I suppose you were living with your father all this time, did he already know?"

_Yes he did_, I thought irritably but he didn't speak out loud. Instead I said, "My dad died when I was two in a car accident. I was adopted by my mom, she said she was a demigod too – a child of Apollo."

"Felicity Gilley?" he asked.

"How did you know –"

"Your surname rang a bell, but I wasn't quite sure until you mentioned Apollo. Felicity came here as a child and left as a young adult," he mused. "I had no idea she had adopted. She rarely contacts us now; the last I heard from her was when she first moved all the way to California. How is she?"

"She's fine," I assured him. "She saved me from two giants that attacked our home yesterday but she didn't want to come to Camp Half-Blood with me."

We halted our walk once we'd reached a large circle of cabins that appeared to each have uniquely themed architectures. Kids of all shapes and sizes walked and ran around us; most of them wearing bright orange shirts scrawled with the words '_Camp Half-Blood_' on top of what appeared to be the image of a flying horse.

When I looked back at Chiron, his face was lined with concern and I sensed a new aura of melancholy surrounding him. "It may very well be because there are not a lot of positive memories she can attribute to this place," he said. "I remember when her friend Billy died...it was like she was transformed into an almost completely different person. Until you came along it seems."

"I didn't want to leave her but she made me."

"It was what was needed to be done Clara. Camp Half-Blood can keep you safe, it can train you to survive the outside world on your own," he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Your godly parent shall claim you soon enough – probably around tonight's campfire – and you'll be able to be moved to your designated cabin. But for now you'll be temporarily staying in the Hermes Cabin."

He walked me over to the eleventh cabin, a worn-looking brown structure. I stared at the odd shape that was hung over the door. Chiron pointed to it. "That is the Caduceus, the symbol of the Greek god Hermes as well as his staff that he carries."

The name Hermes briefly rung a bell – he had something to do with messages and thieves that I was sure of. Chiron opened the door to the cabin and more children dressed in the same Camp Half-Blood shirts were gathered around doing their own thing.

"Connor," Chiron called out, still standing at the doorstep and a tall, skinny boy with a mop of curly brown hair hanging over his blue eyes looked upwards from where he sat on one of the bunks. Upon realising he was needed, he got to his feet and walked over and now that he was up close, I took note of his elfish features and upturned eyebrows. "This is Clara Gilley; she needs a place to stay until she's claimed – perhaps one of the bunks at the back?"

Connor nodded, a smirk curling upon his lips. "Right this way," he gestured behind him and somehow I knew that I should be wary of him _and _his siblings.

I stepped into the cabin, turning around when Chiron spoke again. "Make sure she get's herself to the Dining Pavilion and the campfire tonight when it's time," he reminded Connor as he began his steady trot away from the cabin. "It's likely that she'll be claimed then."

"So," spoke the boy once the centaur had disappeared. "Clara Gilley, eh?"

"Yes," I replied. "That's what he said."

Connor held up his hands in a brief gesture of surrender. "I'm not going to do anything or play any tricks on you – don't worry, that's my siblings job now," he led me down through the bunks towards an empty one at the end. Then he stopped and held out his hand. "My name is Connor Stoll; I'm the head counsellor of this cabin, at least until if my brother comes back, that is."

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "A child of the god of thieves isn't going to try anything?"

"Nah," he waved my question off dismissively. "I would've a little while ago but now I'm a lot more chilled. Sort of. It's Cecil, Julia and Alice you've really got to look out for."

"Alright then," I placed my rucksack on the unclaimed bed, my weapon rattling against it.

The son of Hermes whistled in approval. "Nice sword. Got a name?"

"Augury."

He pulled a face. "Sounds like an old lady's name. No offence."

"No it doesn't," I don't know why I was so defensive of the sword I had only used once and had no idea how to properly handle. It did, admittedly, sound like the name of an old-age pensioner. I guess it's because it had been owned by my mom previously to me that had made me so fond over it. "It's a nice name – I think it has something to do with omens."

Connor shrugged. "Well anyway..." he looked at his wristwatch. "You can stay here until dinner if you want; I think there are a few books on the myths you can read up on the shelf over there."

"What else would I do?"

"Touché."

*~PJ~*

I had really wanted to go and see Ash again but I wasn't sure where he would actually be, so for the time remaining of the day leading up to dinner, I remained in the Hermes Cabin.

I used the time to inspect Augury in more detail, and noticed the engraved initials of _B.R.H_ carved at the bottom. I wasn't sure what it meant though. It certainly didn't symbolise Mom's name or the swords name for that matter so it must've been done by one of its _other _owners. My thoughts also wondered whether it might've belonged to the Billy that Mom and Chiron mentioned. I didn't know his surname to come to that conclusion completely but it seemed reasonable nonetheless.

When it was time to head to the Dining Pavilion, our group, led by Connor and followed by the three other children of Hermes whose names I could recall as Cecil Markowitz, Julia Feingold and Alice Miyazawa. All of those kids looked a whole lot more mischievous than Connor did, so I chose to stick close to the latter. The Dining Pavilion looked as impressive from afar as it did up close – there were no roof or walls, just a row of Greek columns sat on a hill that overlooked the sea.

From each of the tall pillars torches blazed brightly, the flickering flames brightening the hill. However, the main source of light would be the central fire burning in the middle of the room; each of the several tables had a pristine white cloth with a purple trim.

An uncountable amount of campers had huddled around every table, occasionally walking up to the fire with their plates and scooping the rest of their meal into the flames.

Connor led me to a specific table, already lined ready with goblets and plates. I stared at my empty one and then back up at Connor. He smirked at me and then gestured to his own plate and goblet which had somehow become miraculously full of cheese and tomato pizza with coke.

He took one of the pieces of the cheesy pizza and took a chunk out of the tip. "All you gotta do is say what you want and it will appear," he told me eventually after a minute of tortuously watching him eat. "It's not that difficult, you know."

"You could've told me that when we got here!"

"And miss watching you gawp at me in jealousy? No way," Connor grinned and I was half tempted to shove the rest of the pizza down his throat. "Well, go on then."

I took a breath to calm myself.

I had hardly been here for a whole day and already I wanted to choke someone – that was by no means a good start. I stared back downwards at my plate and muttered one of my favourite dishes under my breath. Soon and to my surprise, the plate was full with tomato pasta accompanied with orange juice that tasted exactly the way Mom made it.

Halfway through our meal, Ash arrived. "Missed me?" he smirked from where he snuck up behind me; I choked on my orange juice. "Whoa there, try not to drown yourself," he said whilst patting my back which did little help.

"You idiot," I hissed, wiping my face with a nearby napkin. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"I didn't sneak up on you," he insisted, attempting miserably to keep a straight face. "I just walked up to you and said hi."

"Yeah right," I scowled.

I swerved around to face him – taking note of his change of clothes. Instead of his long baggy jeans, fake shoes and blue shirt, he had on a simple orange Camp Half-Blood shirt with his goat legs on full display. I could now see the horns poking up out of his long blond hair. My form of greeting consisted of swatting him. "Where were you?" I demanded.

He pouted, rubbing his arm. "I had to talk to the Council of Cloven Elders about my mission. Sheesh, I wasn't gone that long."

"You left me alone. You're the only one in this camp that I actually know."

Ash gestured behind me to Connor, who was midway through taking his plate to the pavilion fire. "You've met Connor, he's a good guy and it seems as if you've survived so far," he wiggled his eyebrows as if suggesting something that I hoped for this sake he wasn't actually suggesting. "Looks like you get on well. Who knows –"

"Finish that sentence and this plate of pasta will find itself in your hair," I interrupted sternly.

The blond satyr made a _tsk tsk_ sound, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Now now Clara, the gods won't take too well for you throwing away their offerings, now will they?" he pointed at the fire. "They go in the flames, not on the poor, innocent satyr's head."

"Innocent?" I scoffed. "Yeah right. And I'm a gorilla."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well – with the way you eat, you're not wrong."

"I swear to the gods –" I went to swipe at him again only for him to laugh and sidestep out of the way. He leant up nonchalantly against one of the pillars.

"Go on Clara, the gods can't be kept waiting."

I felt my teeth grind together. "I'm going to get you back, you know," I informed him, lifting up my plate of the remaining pasta and heading over to the pavilion fire. "And you'll never see it coming."

"Oooo I'm trembling with so much fear – whatever should I do?"

I hadn't exactly come up with anything for the revenge yet, but I was determined and so I ignored the jibe and scraped the rest of the pasta into the flames. And then I paused, _was I supposed to say something as well_?

I wasn't completely sure how this stuff worked. _Uh well thanks_, I said and when nothing happened I assumed it was the right thing. Then a thought occurred to me. _And um mother _(wait was that too formal?) _Mom?_ (ah that was better) _if you could tell me who you are soon that would be great...okay, thanks again I guess._

*~PJ~*

The entirety of the campers met up at the campfire just as it was nearing nine pm. By the time we all got there, the fire was at a height of at least twelve feet and shone a brilliant gold.

I sat myself down next to Ash, Connor and the other three Hermes kids near the back of the group – watching as some of the Apollo kids prepare to start off the singing. I couldn't help but notice that some of them shared a few physical appearances to Mom, which just made me miss her even more.

Chiron was walking around the edges of the fire, occasionally talking to one of the campers. He told me that this is around the time that any undetermined demigods were claimed by their parents. A knot of nerves had begun to form in my stomach at the thought – what if my godly parent didn't want to even claim me? What if they were ashamed?

Ash told me that all gods had sworn on the River Styx to claim their children at the age of thirteen and my birthday wasn't until a few months away. Would I have to wait that long? I hoped not, I did consider myself a patient person but I wasn't by any means _that_ patient. I stared at all the campers sat along the campfire, chatting to their friends until one of them in particular, caught my eye.

A girl, probably a few years older than me, was sat beside Cecil Markowitz from the Hermes Cabin just a few metres away from where I was. She had dark brown hair but that wasn't what stopped me, it was the familiar green eyes that did.

My hands reached up to my own – I recognised those eyes because they were the exact same shade as mine.

I must've been staring rather intently at this girl because eventually she turned to face me and then her eyes slid upwards above my head, a look of surprise crossing her features. The campers' chatter had suddenly drifted into silence, I looked around in confusion but they were all staring at me. Even Ash was looking above my head, so naturally I found myself following his line of sight.

At first I couldn't exactly make out what it was that was seemingly floating above me. It seemed like some kind of symbol, which glowed a bright sapphire with sparks that hissed and crackled outwards. I tilted my head to get a better look – it appeared to be a pair of large torches crisscrossing each other with flickering deep blue flames. Was this it? Was I being claimed?

Chiron's voice rang out through the silence, making me jump from the sudden noise and answering that question for me. "Hail Clara Gilley, daughter of Hecate."

As I watched the symbol slowly fade out of existence, I could only thing of one thing.

Who the heck was Hecate?


	5. I find out who my mom is

**5.**

_I find out who my mom is_

_and I meet a farting polecat._

Hecate, as I soon found out afterwards, was the Greek goddess of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, crossroads, trivial knowledge, necromancy and (wait for it) _ghosts._ At least I now know where I got my strange ability to summon my dead father from – thanks Mom, I appreciate it.

The green-eyed girl who I had been awkwardly staring at for at least a full minute revealed herself to be Lou Ellen Blackstone – another daughter of Hecate and thus my half-sister (one of many new half-siblings I later learned). She explained to me in-depth as to whom our mother was whilst we walked back over to the Hermes Cabin to gather my belongings.

"She controls the Mist," Lou Ellen informed me. "And as her children, that means we can too."

"How?" I replied, swinging my rucksack over my shoulder and picking up Augury from the empty bunk.

She blinked at me. "Wow, I have a lot to teach you – you can be my apprentice!" she said eagerly. "Can I call you my apprentice?"

"Uh...sure."

"Great, let's go," Lou Ellen turned back around and headed out the door.

I followed her to Cabin Twenty, a stone structured building engraved with magical writing. She stopped outside of it and looked at me with a mischievous grin. "If one of these stones fell – it will either explode or sometimes it even turns everyone within half a mile into a tree."

I must've paled slightly. "Good to know."

"That doesn't happen often though," the girl quickly reassured me. "Well, only if one of us wanted it to."

"Right."

Though even I could admit that this had to be the coolest cabin I'd seen at the camp yet.

It had a slanted roof and high ceilings along with four modules back to back, two on either side. Altogether it had four separate entrances and, according to Lou Ellen, the modules can be rearranged and moved as desired – being as small or big as it needs to be.

However, it was the interior that appeared the most appealing.

Along with the four entrances, there were four main sitting rooms that accompanied them, all equipped with built-in cushioned benches that could be doubled into beds. And for each of those beds, tucked underneath there was a storage space for clothes, armour and weapons.

"Watch this," she said excitedly. She snapped her fingers and one of the living rooms was soon morphed and reshaping itself into a gym and then a dining room and then to a bedroom. "Awesome, right?"

I remembered to close my mouth that had been hanging open for half a minute now. "Yeah...is that magic?"

"Yup," then she pointed to the staircase that leant against the back of the wall. "That leads to the loft – most of what's up there is usually used as a meeting area or a game room."

And then she led me to one of the beds that hadn't been occupied by anyone.

My one had freshly folded bed linen piled at the end and the storage space underneath was empty. I placed my rucksack on top of the bed, and took a seat on the surprisingly comfortable mattress. A few of the other Hecate kids had returned from the campfire now, briefly introducing themselves to me before heading off to their own bunks.

"The bathrooms are just over there through that door," Lou Ellen informed me.

"Thank-you," she went to walk away but I stopped her. "Wait, what about our powers –"

The girl waved away my question. "It's way too late to give you a run through now. But as my apprentice," Oh, she was serious about that? "-I'll teach you everything you need to know."

"But is magic and controlling the Mist the only things we can do?"

She pulled a face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean like...you said one of the other things our mom is the god of is necromancy. Is that one of the other common skills that demigods like us have?"

My half-sister seemed to think about this for a while. "It's a skill that some of us have," I breathed a sigh of relief – maybe one of them could help me. But that hope was short-lived with the girl's next words. "But it's one of the rare abilities. I haven't known a Hecate kid that's had it yet."

I felt myself internally groan. _Out of all your children – I'm the one you gave the rare mysterious power to? Seriously Hecate?_

I nodded, forcing a straight face. "Good to know."

When the lights were finally turned off and the rest of my half-siblings went to bed, I found myself staring up at the arched ceiling, twirling Augury in my hands. My mind kept wandering back to Mom in National City, about what she would think of Hecate being my godly parent. One of the other campers had handed me a few books on the goddess for further research but I decided to leave that for tomorrow.

After a while, when I realised that my eyes were beginning to droop, I quietly placed the sword underneath my bed and forced myself to sleep. It took a little while of tossing and turning around my new bed until eventually I found myself drifting off.

As I mentioned before, I usually considered myself to be a light sleeper but I think this had to be the deepest sleep I'd ever been in. The dreams were strange and more vivid like I was actually there in person. All around me the world seemed to sift through numerous scenes and memories that I didn't even recognise until everything came to a spinning halt. I stumbled backwards, but just managed to retain my balance as a large room morphed into existence.

It was a strange room with a front wall of windows whilst the back appeared to be lined entirely with mirrors. It seemed to create an odd effect where the room seemed entirely bigger than it actually was.

Dotted around there was some pricey-looking furniture that reminded me of something from a luxury five-star holiday resort. Well, a holiday resort for very rich people. Not that I would know what that might look like. It wasn't like me and Mom had that much money to throw around.

Then I noticed the woman who was standing by the windows. She was a young, beautiful woman with smooth-looking dark hair which seemed to be braided with threads made entirely of pure gold. Her eyes suddenly met mine, and I did a double take at the familiarity of the piercing green that stared at me, only they seemed to be brimming with hatred. And when she smiled at me, it wasn't a nice smile by any means – it appeared cruel.

Her silky black dress was decorated with flittering shapes that seemed to move through the dark fabric, like animal shadows running as if they had lives of their own. I couldn't make sense of it.

And then, eventually, the woman tilted her head. Her expression became fond as she observed her surroundings.

"You know this had been my home for many years," she said almost dotingly and then her gaze seemed to narrow in anger. "That of course was before that rancid demigod boy and the Athena girl decided they would ruin it all for me. They destroyed _everything_, I was so terribly lost and yet my mother did nothing to help me. She just stood by and watched it all happen without a single care in the world. Do you know how that felt?"

I shook my head.

The lady pursed her lips. "No," she said. "I don't expect you would. You've always been one of her favourite children, Clara Gilley. So spoilt...so pampered."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond, I wasn't even sure what she was talking about. "I'm...sorry?"

She ignored me. "But it's not going to be that way anymore, not when I finally get my hands on you," a smirk that sent chills running down my spine curled itself upon the woman's lips. "You may be safe and sound now, but it won't remain that way _girl_. I can guarantee that."

Before I could even think of another reply, the scene dissolved into darkness and I found myself sat bolt upright in my bunk. I looked around at the rest of my cabin-mates. Most of them were still asleep, lost in pleasant dreams. From the looks of things outside, it seemed to be early morning – meaning that the harpies probably wouldn't flay me alive if I stepped outside for a moment.

I put on some jeans, black sneakers, one the of the new Camp Half-Blood shirts that had been led out on the bed for me beforehand and my favourite plain red jacket. I opened one of the cabin doors and stepped outside, sitting myself down just a few metres away from the entrance. Nobody besides me seemed to be out and about so the chances of being seen were pretty slim. The coast was clear.

Closing my eyes, I spoke a name and for a brief moment nothing seemed to happen.

I had the horrible thought that I might not be able to summon him from within the confines of the camp but then the mist began to seep in and I sighed in relief.

This morning seemed to promise a bright and summery day ahead, if anyone saw this mist creeping in from no natural source it might raise some suspicions – I would have to make this quick. The mist soon began to shift and form, growing into that same recognisable humanoid shape that I'd seen in the airport bathroom until it finally solidified into my father.

He looked at me and then glanced at the surrounding camp, his brows knitting together. "Are you at some kind of summer camp?" he asked.

"Camp Half-Blood," I nodded. "It's for demigods like me. Mom sent me here, that's where I was going when I last talked to you in the airport."

"It looks nice," Dad noted. "Protected from the monsters?"

"There's a magical barrier that stops them from getting through," and then I heard myself sigh. "I'm sorry I had a go at you. I know it wasn't your fault that you didn't tell me who I was. Chiron said that when demigods know who they are, their scent gets stronger to monsters."

"It's okay. If it were me, I'd have reacted the same way," he said kindly, sitting down on the ground next to me and staring at the distant line of opposite cabins. "However, I take it you now know who your mother is?"

"Her name's Hecate," I confirmed and proceeded to elaborate more once I saw the look of puzzlement cross his features. "Hecate is the goddess of magic, crossroads, necromancy and the Mist – which is what stops mortals from seeing our world and freaking out about it. And she's also the reason why I –"

"See dead people?" he finished with a grin.

"You just had to quite _The Sixth Sense_, didn't you?"

He shrugged, an amused smile stretched across his lips. "I wasn't planning to but you kind of set it up for me kiddo," he said. "Besides it's true – I'm dead, you can see me."

"You're a spirit and I can summon you."

"Same difference."

"My one sounds better."

"Well, my one is a pop culture reference and you can't beat those."

"Yes you can and – _oh my god what is that?_" a long, grey and furry rodent that had a white mask around its face sprinted out of the surrounding mist and stared at us. I couldn't tell what exactly it was, except that it resembled something close to a weasel.

Its red eyes examined us closely.

"Okay," I said slowly. "This is weird. Where did that come from?"

"Interesting," Dad said with intrigue. "It's a polecat."

"A _what now_?"

"Polecat – they're similar to ferrets and skunks," he explained and the polecat turned to look at him as if it knew it was being spoken about. "They're quite intelligent animals."

The polecat farted.

I quirked up an eyebrow at my dad whose expression was a definite sight to see. "You were saying?"

He waved a hand in front of his face, distorting his image. "At least some of them are."

It bared its teeth at us angrily, seemingly insulted by the insinuation. And then it leapt at me.

Naturally, my first reaction was to yelp. I shielded my eyes with my arms but instead of attacking, it just merely climbed up the side of my body and found its perch on my shoulder, its claws digging into my skin. I tried to whack it away but it hissed and chattered – adamant that it was to remain there. "Well," my dad said in amusement. "It looks as though you've found yourself a new friend."

"It's not funny!" I snapped. "How the hell do I get it off?"

The polecat screeched in protest as he peered at it. "I don't think it wants to."

"Dad!"

"Alright, alright – hold on," he moved so that he could get a proper look at the animal, his eyes drifted down to the claws that it had embedded into my shoulder. "The only way you'll be able to get it off is if you pull the claws off one by one."

"That's not helpful – I already knew that."

He looked as though he was going to say something else but then his facial expression faltered. "There's someone coming," and he faded swiftly back into the mist, the rest of it dispersing away whilst I remained wrestling with the polecat.

Now I wasn't an animal behaviourist, but I was pretty sure that this wasn't how normal polecats reacted – aren't they supposed to run away from humans, not attach themselves to you?

"Get off!" I hissed.

It farted again.

I briefly heard Chiron's voice alongside a female one that I didn't recognise and let out a curse. They appeared around the corner and stopped dead in their tracks, staring at me – of course it's not every day you see a girl trying to tussle a small (and rather annoying) rodent off their shoulder.

"Clara?" Chiron said.

I let go of the polecat in reluctant defeat and turned around meekly. "Hey Chiron and..."

"Hazel. Hazel Levesque," supplied the girl.

Hazel was a camper I hadn't seen before. She was an African-American girl with shoulder-length curly cinnamon brown hair and golden eyes. She wore a purple shirt stitched with the letters **_SPQR_** across the chest, jeans and had a sword that, when sheathed, reached down to her ankles. It reminded me of Augury but with a longer blade and a different hilt.

"Yeah hi," I stood to my feet; the polecat chattering in what I think was in victory. "Just having a little difficulty here, nothing I can't handle."

It snarled in disagreement.

The girl stepped forward gingerly, peering at the polecat as if in recognition. "Gale?" she asked curiously.

The polecat, apparently named Gale, let out a chirp. I looked up at Hazel. "You know this thing – _ouch_," I rubbed my shoulder where the polecat glared up at me. "Sorry _Gale._"

"Yeah – I would recognise Hecate's polecat anywhere. She used to be a witch."

_Ah, so that explained that._

I stared at Gale warily and the rodent returned it, its gaze unwavering until I had to turn away again. "Is there any way I can get it to leave me alone?" I asked desperately. "Gale seems to be getting accustomed to my shoulder and I _do not _like it."

"I believe that will probably be unlikely, dear child," Chiron said, walking over to the pair of us and watching the polecat with interest. "It appears as if your mother has sent it –" the polecat hissed. "-pardon me, I mean Gale, to watch over you for the time being...until she is recalled that is, am I right in thinking so?"

Gale dug her claws deeper into my shoulder and I whimpered – taking that as a _yes_. "Hecate couldn't have sent anything less annoying and less...vicious?"

Hazel smiled as if she found this whole scenario amusing. "She has a black Labrador, Hecuba I think her name was. The former queen of Troy."

I frowned. "You're not making me feel any better. I love dogs, why couldn't she have sent this Hecuba?" I was immediately made to regret saying that as Gale chattered angrily, swiping a paw towards my face had I not inched out of the way in time. "_Alright_ I'm sorry – you're the best polecat ever."

"Well, I suppose you'll just have to wait and see," Chiron began to rummage through his pockets of his waistcoat until his hand seemingly grasped what he was looking for. I watched as he tugged out the piece of rolled up parchment and handed it to me. "I meant to give you your timetable earlier but alas I never got around to it. How are you settling in with your new cabin?"

"It's okay," I replied. "Though I've somehow become Lou Ellen's apprentice."

The girl in the purple shirt tugged her lips into a frown. "You can't control your magic?"

"Not really – it's that I don't know _how_ to use it properly besides a few odd tricks here and there that I don't mean to do anyway," I continued. "Some of my half-siblings told me what we can do."

"I can help you too, if you would like," Hazel suggested.

My eyes widened. "You're a child of Hecate too? Man, how many siblings do I have?"

"I'm the daughter of Pluto," she corrected me with a chuckle. "But I can use magic, just not to the extent as you or your siblings."

"Pluto? Isn't that a planet?"

"Pluto is the Roman equivalent of Hades," Chiron informed me. "It's a rather long story to discuss right at this moment though I'm sure if you ask around, some of the campers will give you a full explanation. There is a lot you still need to learn about this world."

"And you would help me?" I turned back to Hazel. "Someone you've barely even met?"

The Roman girl shrugged her shoulders. "I'm here for a few days visiting my brother Nico before I head back to Camp Jupiter, I'm sure I could spare some time to help you," and then she smiled. "And besides, Hecate helped me awhile ago – it would only be fair if I returned the favour by helping one of her children."

"Wow," I blinked. "You have to be the kindest person I've ever met besides my mom."

She laughed.

*~PJ~*

The average day at Camp Half-Blood started with an eight am breakfast.

I was the first of my cabin to seat at the Hecate table of course; Gale still resolutely perched on my shoulder. I grabbed a bowl and a goblet, summoning cornflakes and more orange juice and then scooping some of it into the pavilion fire. _Thank-you_, I thought and then continued. _And uh Hecate? You can recall Gale anytime you want now._

And then I sat back down.

Ash, along with a few other satyrs, entered the pavilion a few minutes before the rest of the campers did. My blond friend walked up to me and then paused. "You have something on your shoulder," he said.

"Really?" I quirked up an eyebrow. "I hadn't noticed."

He sat himself at the Hecate table carefully as if afraid to make any sudden movements in fear of disturbing the polecat that was happily helping herself to some of my leftover cornflakes. "What is that?" he asked and then winced when Gale bared his teeth. "Sorry I meant _she_. Who is _she_?"

"Her name is Gale and apparently she's been sent by my mother to watch over me."

"Hecate?" his eyes widened.

I stared at him. "Yes of course Hecate – do you really think Mom, as in Felicity, would have polecats running all over the house. I think we would notice."

Gale chattered something and Ash smirked.

"What?" I said.

"She just said that you have to be the rudest child of Hecate she's ever had the _unpleasure_ of looking over," he translated, grabbing one of the bowls himself. "Gale here also said that this is as much as a punishment for her as it is for you."

I would've questioned his ability on being able to understand Gale, but I figured it was to do with the satyr thing he had going on so I let it be. Instead, I turned my head to the side and looked at Gale. "Well you're the meanest polecat I've ever had the _unfortunate _opportunity to meet and I will immediately celebrate whenever you leave."

The polecat snapped and hissed at me, trying to swipe at my face again. Ash just smirked. "As much as I love watching you insult each other – maybe this is a good thing."

Both me and Gale snapped our heads towards him in disbelief, no doubt the sight had almost looked comical for Ash whose grin widened at the movement. "How on earth is this a good thing?" I asked, incredulously. "I am stuck with a rodent that has serious intestinal problems."

Almost as if to prove my point, the polecat farted loudly.

"Oh my gods _jeez_," Ash pinched his nose. "Gale you need that looked at."

His voice was now nasally from where he still blocked his own nose. "-Anyway, there has to be a reason Hecate sent her. Maybe you'll be getting a quest."

"I don't want a quest – whatever that means."

"You'll have no choice," he insisted. "When demigods are given quests then they have to complete them."

"What quest could I possibly get? And wouldn't it make more sense that if there was any quest, it should be given to a child of Hecate who actually has some experience in this stuff?" I asked – failing to notice that Gale had fallen unusually silent. "That actually knows who to control and use their powers to their advantage and that they actually know how to use a weapon."

Ash shrugged. "There was a kid before, a son of Poseidon, he had to go on a quest almost as immediately after he arrived at Camp Half-Blood and he had just about as much experience as you do now," he explained. "It doesn't matter on the skills you have or whether you can wield a sword – if you're chosen then that's it."

"And you guys said this place was safe."

When the rest of my half-siblings arrived to sit at the Hecate table, Gale greeted them individually by digging her claws into each of their shoulders and chattering. Unfortunately though, she soon returned to my own once she'd gone around the table.

After breakfast, I had to retrieve my sword Augury and the full combat armour that Lou Ellen had to show me how to put on. Eventually, a group of us arrived at the sword fighting arena ready to get skewered by the Ares Cabin. Long story short – I really, really hated it.

Sherman Yang, a son of Ares and the current counsellor of his cabin, was brutal when it came down to teaching us how to block and parry with a sword. After a few practises on straw dummies dressed in Greek armour, we were put into pairs to spar. Gale was more than willing to get down from my shoulder when this started, for her own sake.

I was paired up with an Italian called Chiara Benvenuti who had pixie cut dark hair and fierce looking almond eyes. It turns out she was the daughter of Tyche, the goddess of luck. Fantastic. Whoever decided to pair me up with the daughter of the literal _personification _of luck must really hate me. Naturally, it was a hopeless case as I expected. I managed to block and parry some of the girl's strikes with Augury impressively withstanding the continuous blows from her xiphos but when it came down to the winner? Undoubtedly, it was Chiara.

"Don't worry," said Lou Ellen as she patted me on the back in sympathy. "It was your first session; you won't be expected to be an expert straight away."

But that didn't make me feel any better.

At ten am we had target practise with Chiron at the archery range that was not too far from the arena. He walked along the front of the line, instructing us on how to use and nock a bow and arrow. Chiron then pointed at the archery targets prepared and ready a few metres away.

I adjusted my stance, standing upright with my feet a shoulder width apart and at a ninety degree angle to my target. Placing my index finger above the arrow and two fingers below, I gently drew back the string – using my dominant eye to look down at the arrow in order to align it almost perfectly with the bulls-eye of the target.

And finally I released it, sending the arrow flying forwards. To my surprise, it hit the board directly – just outside the first inner ring.

"Not bad," Chiron commented with a smile. "It seems as though your mother has had more of an impact on you than you thought."

I didn't need to ask which mom he meant.


	6. Hazel turns Gale into a lion

**6.**

_Hazel turns Gale into a lion_

_and I'm volunteered for inescapable annihilation._

After two hours of winged horseback riding (which didn't end nearly as badly as I thought it would), there was the Monster Assault Techniques lessons with the Hermes Cabin and then we finally got to choose.

There were three options in total to choose from: arts & craft with the Hephaestus Cabin, canoe races with the naiads and the climbing wall with the satyrs. Some of us chose the canoe races which I particularly didn't disagree on. I much preferred water to lava anyway.

Me and another Hecate kid versus four other cabins (Hermes, Athena, Demeter and Ares) – with the winning cabin receiving twenty drachma credit at the camp store. Fortunately, I knew how to canoe from when Mom used to take me on holiday where they had hosted the lessons. Besides the odd scuffle between two burly Ares kids and the ones from the Athena cabin, the race went fairly smoothly. I managed to come second behind a son of Athena called Malcolm Pace, but at least it wasn't last.

And then finally, we reached free time where now we could do whatever we wanted. For the most part.

I was walking back from the canoe lake, towards Cabin Twenty and was just passing Hestia's Hearth when I noticed the girl tending to its flames who I _definitely _hadn't seen before. She was young, _really_ young – at least nine or ten-years-old. Her hair was mousy brown but her eyes seemed to be a comforting red that, despite its unusualness, brought forth a sense of warmth.

She looked up and smiled at me but before I could say anything, a voice called my name.

"Hey Clara!"

It was the same girl from earlier: Hazel Levesque. She was walking over from Cabin Thirteen where a boy who I vaguely knew as Nico Di Angelo, disappeared into. I had seen him hanging around with his boyfriend Will Solace but had only spoken to him a few times, both of them being brief.

I turned back to the hearth, but to my surprise the girl tending to it had gone. I shook off the confusion.

"Hey Hazel," I smiled. "What can I do for you?"

She smirked. "Don't tell me you've forgotten the magic lessons already?"

_The magic lessons of course,_ I chided myself, _I knew I was forgetting something._

"Uh no – totally not," I said with a wince.

Hazel laughed. "Don't worry," she told me. "I won't keep you too long."

"No, no that wasn't what I – I didn't mean," I sighed, giving up in my attempt to explain myself, understanding that it was a hopeless case at this point. I gestured to my cabin door. "I'll just go get changed and then I'll be right back."

Once I was inside, Gale leapt from my shoulder and onto my bunk. I pulled out a fresh pair of jeans and a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, turned and looked at the creature. "Uh – could you..._you know._"

It seemed that indeed the polecat did know, as she soon chattered and disappeared up the staircase into the upstairs room that wasn't used that often. I could hear her skittering around, probably nosing through all the things that the children of her mistress possessed.

I got changed, grabbed Augury and sheathed it, then headed outside to where Hazel was waiting. Honestly – I really didn't think Lou Ellen would mind that I had started my magic lessons without her, the last time I saw her she was having the time of her life on the volleyball court.

Hazel led me all the way over to Half-Blood Hill where the _Athena Parthenos _gleamed proudly in the sinking afternoon sun – radiating a broad range of golden energy throughout the camp. It towered above the only tree upon the hill which was draped over by a glimmering fleece. Beneath that lay a large dragon with coppery scales which had wrapped itself around the trunk, happily snoozing away to himself.

Ash had told me his name was Peleus.

We passed by the Cave of the Oracle which seemed to be vacant and sat ourselves down on the crest of the hill. "Is Camp Jupiter like this?" I found myself asking.

I had only recently been filled in about the recent events that had occurred – the giants, Gaia: the goddess of the earth and how there had been a bloody battle between the Roman and Greek camps which consequently caused an identity crisis for the gods. This was then later solved with the arrival of the _Athena Parthenos. _It made me glad that I had only found out about my parentage now instead of back then.

"It's a bit different," she informed me. "But it serves the same purpose as Camp Half-Blood – a refuge for demigods like us."

"But for Roman demigods."

"Yes," Hazel smiled. "And it's been my home ever since Nico brought me up from the Underworld."

My mouth dropped open. "Wait, you were in the Underworld? How did that happen?"

Hazel released an exhale and returned her focus to the view of the camp. "It's a long story, but it had something to do with Gaia and..."

"Your mom?" I guessed. "She had magic."

The daughter of Pluto looked at me in surprise. "How did you know that?"

I found myself frowning. In truth I wasn't really sure how I knew that piece of information. It was something I kind of just _did_ know but couldn't recall ever learning or hearing about it in my life. I think I would remember that. I wasn't sure how I would be able to properly explain, so instead, I said, "Lucky guess?"

Despite the fact that she didn't at all seem convinced by this explanation, she didn't mention anything else about the topic. Instead for a brief moment, she closed her eyes and was silent. I watched as she screwed up her face in concentration only to jump in fright when a large lion with metallic gold fur seemed to spring out of thin air – the curls of mist coiling around its body swiftly dispersing.

The lion stared at us, its brown eyes intently examining where we sat. I reached for the hilt of my sword, expecting it to lunge at us at any moment but then...it stuck its tongue out.

It purred loudly, the sound resounding throughout the hill as it dropped onto its back and began rolling around the grass like an excited puppy. I turned my head to Hazel, wanting to know what she thought of this sudden development but to my surprise she seemed to be laughing. Finally, I caught up on what she was doing. "Is that – is that _magic_?"

"It's an illusion – warping the Mist in order to alter your perceptions," Hazel explained eventually and then with a wave of her hand, the lion vanished and was replaced by a very ticked off looking polecat. "Your control over the Mist can allow you to cast them. You can conceal anything's true form just by willing it to. It takes time to learn the ropes, but I promise it's not as difficult as it seems."

She stood up from the ground and gestured for me to do the same. I got to my feet, placing Augury on the floor besides me. "Turn me into anything you like," she insisted. "Picture whatever it is in your mind and direct the energy towards me."

All I could think about was the Force from _Star Wars_ and hoped the demigod wouldn't go all Yoda on me. I have expected her to say something like '_May the Mist be with you_' but I guess she didn't pick up on the opportunity.

I tried to think of something or someone at least that I could change her into. My eyes closed and I raised my hands – thinking of my mom's silvery blond hair and pale blue eyes that were always filled with warmth, even if I was in trouble. I thought of the typical flowery apron she always wore when she's in one of her cooking moods and the smell of freshly baked cakes and –

"You did it!" a voice that was certainly not Hazel's broke me away from my train of thought.

My eyes snapped open and took a step back in shock when my mom, in the place of Hazel, stared back at me. The illusion had her hair tied up into a neat bun, and over her pink sweater and pale blue jeans was the flowery apron that was even lightly dusted with flour and cake mix.

"That's uh – how –" my concentration plummeted and Mom's form flickered back into Hazel.

"You're a fast learner," Hazel said, nodding in approval. "Let's try some other things."

Those _other things_ lasted until quarter to six before the Roman demigod finally suggested that they headed to the dining pavilion and I couldn't have agreed more. I felt like I'd just run something akin to a marathon as I trudged after Hazel – though at least now I had some idea of my powers. Well...all except one of course – the necromancy part.

"Hey Hazel?" I said.

"Hmm?"

"What other powers do you have besides the manipulation of the Mist? On the Hecate side, I mean."

She looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "As far as I know that's it."

I restrained myself from groaning in annoyance – there had to be someone that had it. I can't be the only one, that would just make no sense at all. I looked upwards when Hazel spoke again. "Why's that?" she asked curiously.

I sighed. "It doesn't matter."

"Try me."

Should I? There wouldn't be much harm in telling _one _person and it isn't as if Hazel was the gossip type. I looked around us, making sure nobody would be able to overhear us. "I have this _power_," I found myself spitting the word with distaste. "I've asked around the cabin and none of my other siblings seem to have it – they said it was rare, pretty uncommon –"

"Like charmspeak with the Aphrodite kids," Hazel nodded in understanding. "My friend Piper Mclean is one of the only ones that have it in her cabin."

So every god and goddess had a few oddballs amongst their offspring. "It's...complicated because I don't really know what it is just the fact that I can do it," I paused. "I can...summon spirits – _dead_ spirits, well obviously. Sometimes they can be full apparitions, other times they can just be voices – aspects of their former selves."

Hazel was silent for a worrisome amount of time before she spoke; only it was more to herself than me. "Hecate is also the goddess of necromancy and ghosts...she spends most of her time in the Underworld with Persephone and Hades," and then her voice got a bit louder. "It makes sense – I had never really thought about that before."

"I need someone to teach me how to control it but how can I be taught something if nobody else has it?" my shoulders slumped in resignation. "Sometimes I can willingly summon a spirit, other times I do it without even meaning to. Graveyards are the worst. If I can control it maybe I can stop using it."

"Have you used it recently?" she asked, catching me off guard. I found myself pursing my lips. "You have, haven't you?"

I sighed again.

"I used to summon my dad occasionally – my mom gave me a picture of him when I was eight. I guess I was just thinking about him a lot and then one day he just appeared. I started bringing his spirit forward ever since I figured out I could..." I continued. "But it's getting difficult – he's becoming more distant, harder to grasp – like he's fading away almost. I'm worried that one day I'll summon him and he'll just be an echo and not the person I knew."

"The Fields of Asphodel," Hazel said. "It's where the neutral souls go to wander about for all eternity. Most of the souls there lose their identities and just begin to fade..."

"You sound like you know the place personally."

"I do – I spent nearly seventy years there. I gave up my chance to go to Elysium so that my mother wouldn't end up in the Fields of Punishment," she shook her head; sadness was laced through her words. "It's not a nice place to end up but it's better than the torture she would've endured had I not done it."

"I'm sorry."

The fourteen-year-old's face broke out into a watery smile. "Its okay, it's hard going over the memories," and then she straightened her back, drawing herself to her full height which was around the same as me. "I know someone who can help you though: my brother Nico. He's the son of Hades but he's the closest person who has the same abilities as you do. I know he'll help."

We walked all the way back to the dining pavilion where we spotted Nico, sat at his usual place on the Apollo table – beside Will Solace. The son of Hades had messy black hair, wearing dark trousers, a t-shirt and a leather bomber jacket. His sword, made of Stygian iron, was strapped at his side.

Will, his boyfriend, contrasted the boy's appearance with shaggy blond hair and blue eyes with an athletic build. _Opposites certainly do attract, _I thought amusedly.

"Hey Hazel," Will smiled.

"Hey."

Nico perked up at the reappearance of his half-sister, his eyes drifted briefly in my direction before returning to the Roman demigod. "How did the lesson go?"

"Actually – that's what I need to speak with you about."

However before they could extend further upon the conversation, there was a collection of gasps and excited muttering. Most of the other campers had jumped up from their seats to get a better look at whatever was causing the attention. I shuffled around the other campers, stepped outside the dining pavilion and peered across the camp. A large group of women and girls had appeared over Half-Blood Hill and were making their way towards the Big House.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"The Hunters of Artemis," I heard Will say from behind me. "And they just had to _conveniently_ arrive on the day we're supposed to play capture the flag."

I detected traces of resentment in his tone and the way the other campers groaned or rolled their eyes told me they probably felt the same way. I knew who Artemis was – Ash had told me she was the virgin goddess of the hunt, the moon, chastity, childbirth, wild animals and the wilderness so I figured that I had a rough idea of who her hunters were.

"Are they all maidens?"

A boy called Mitchell, a child of Aphrodite, made a harrumph sound. "Yes, all of them swear off of love in order to join the hunt," he crossed his arms. "I never understood how they could do that. How can they live in a world without love?"

"I think quite easily," I said, earning me a scowl. "I think they're awesome."

The boy moved so that he was standing further away from me, as if I suddenly had come down with some contagious disease.

In hindsight, I liked the idea of the hunters – it seemed relatively stress free when it came down to relationships (I was never very fond when it came to _those_ kind of relationships anyway). Even when I was younger I had never really joined in with the other kids when it came down to dating whoever looked the nicest or whoever was considered the popular kid in the class at the time.

"They're awesome alright," Will commented. "So awesome in fact that they're probably going to beat us yet again at capture the flag tonight and I was looking forward to that too."

"You could still win," Hazel insisted, though she looked a little doubtful. "If we plan out everything carefully."

Sharman Yang of the Ares cabin shook his head. "All you need to know is that my cabin will be on the offensive cause' we're more likely to actually get the flag," then he waved his hand. "As for the rest of it – I don't really care. You can figure it out amongst yourselves."

"See this is why we lose all the time against them," Malcolm, the son of Athena said. "We need proper strategy, and not just run in blind, hoping for the best."

The bickering continued, meanwhile I was completely lost.

I didn't even know the rules of the game or how to play or what I was supposed to do. Apparently every demigod (unless injured) had to play and usually when Artemis' hunters were around, it was the campers versus them. So far the hunters had apparently won over fifty times in a row and yet the campers still couldn't come up with a sensible way to defeat them – I was so possibly screwed and it hadn't even started.

Gale, who I had forgotten was still on my shoulder, was taking greedy sips from my orange juice, blissfully oblivious to the turmoil going on around us.

"Me and Clara will guard the flag," Hazel announced so suddenly that I almost ended up dropping the goblet that the polecat had been drinking from. Thankfully I managed to catch it just in time, but the juice lurched and Gale's face ended up temporarily being dunked.

The polecat squealed and glared at me.

"Um, what?" I said. "You want _me_ – as in Clara I-Can't-Even-Hold-A-Sword-Correctly Gilley – to guard the flag, are you insane?"

"I'll be there with you," Hazel assured me though it still didn't make me dread the prospect any less. "You can use the chance to practise your magic – the stuff that I showed you. If me and you guard the flag that means the rest of the campers will be able to go on the offence, including the Athena and Ares cabins."

Will seemed to ponder this suggestion for a moment, and then turned to his two siblings Austin Lake and Kayla Knowles. They both shrugged their shoulders. "We could take the outer routes, the Ares, Athena and Nike cabin can take the middle – the rest of you can target the rest," and then he glanced at Nico and smirked. "Except you Death Boy, you're with me."

"I told you to stop calling me that," Nico mumbled.

"Is that okay with everyone?" Will asked.

The campers grumbled their reluctant approvals before heading back over to their tables to eat some food in time for the game that was less than ten minutes away. Once everyone had moved, leaving me and Hazel standing in the middle of the pavilion by the fire, I said. "Well, we're screwed. I might as well hand over the flag now. Why did you do that?"

"Because the only way you'll know for sure on whether you have full control of your powers will be when you're under pressure," Hazel said. "You'll be fine – I'll make sure of it."

As for myself, I wasn't so sure. I had barely just arrived at the camp, I had an annoying rodent as an accomplice and the only thing I seemed reasonably good at was archery.

I was pretty sure I was the world's most useless demigod.


	7. I become one with the Force

**7.**

_I become one with the Force_

_and turn myself into a giant ant (naturally)._

I was starting to wish that Hazel would stop having so much faith in me.

But even after Chiron announced the arrival of the hunters and explained the rules she was still absolutely sure that I was going to do well. Me on the other hand, I was planning on what I should do once I became a demigod outcast for letting the whole camp down. My nerves churned in my stomach, reminding me again and again as to how this was a really bad idea.

To make things worse, whilst on our way to our posts, I spotted a few of the hunters deep in discussion. All of them were athletically built, armed with mostly bows and arrows and swords. Compared to me and some of the other campers, they looked _very_ intimidating.

Gale had wisely decided to remain in the Hecate Cabin. Right at that moment I wished I could be a simple rodent that occasionally hitched rides on peoples' shoulders and ate anything at anytime they pleased.

You know I might've been pretty desperate if I actually considered the possibility of becoming a polecat and tucking myself away in a cabin with the likes of Gale. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts that took up the majority of my mind. If I kept being so pessimistic, it's more likely that it's going to end badly.

I tried to picture something positive like my teammates grabbing the hunters' flag and running it over to our side to victory whilst I bravely defended our own flag – fiercely battling three hunters at once.

_Yeah like that's going to happen_, a voice in my head scoffed and I agreed.

Hazel and I walked towards the east side of the Northern Woods, past Zeus' Fist until we reached the point where our small and surprisingly unimpressive flag rippled in the gentle breeze of the evening. "So – have you played this game before?" I asked Hazel curiously, the daughter of Pluto seemed to know a lot about it considering she came from another camp.

The girl looked meekly downwards, kicking at an imaginary stone. "Um, not really."

I stared at her. "Then how do you know so much about it?"

She shrugged, she had her sword drawn – a cavalry sword, Hazel told, also referred to as a _spatha_. "My friends filled me in for the most part and then Chiron told us the rules. It wasn't that difficult to put the pieces together."

My hands wrapped themselves around the hilt of Augury, drawing it out.

I hadn't used it since this morning and I could just barely remember what Sherman Yang had taught us. We weren't allowed to kill or maim (for obvious reasons) but we could disarm the opponent. We also had to stand within ten yards of our own flag and the boundary line was the Zephyros Creek that separated up the forest. The activities director also helpfully mentioned the monsters that were lurking in the area – just to make things even more difficult.

"We're so screwed."

"You keep saying that, but I still don't believe you."

"You should believe me," I insisted. "We were screwed as soon as you decided to team up with me."

I adjusted the helmet on my head as Hazel fell into silence. I'd never met such a person quite like the Roman demigod before – the unusual amount of faith and optimism she placed on me was something rare. Something I didn't really know how to respond to.

"Why do you doubt yourself so much?" she asked, after almost a minute of no speaking. Her golden eyes were staring at me intently, but I still kept my own trained forwards at the gaps in the trees.

I didn't want to say why I had doubted my own capabilities because frankly I found it quite embarrassing. Hazel had so far had no easy life – both she and her mom were killed stopping the first attempted rise of Gaia. She had sacrificed Elysium so that her only parent wouldn't end up in the Fields of Punishment only to be resurrected and having to defeat the same foe that ended her life the first time round.

Compared to her life...well, mine seemed like a walk in the park. But I couldn't help it, no matter how much I tried – there was always this nagging doubt that clawed at my mind.

"I was never really that good at anything really," I said eventually, choosing my words carefully. "I was at the bottom of all my classes – terrible grades, could hardly focus on what was going on, I was never picked for a team in PE and when I was placed in a team they always ended up losing. I was rubbish at _everything_. In the long run I just learnt to accept that I consider myself as bad luck."

"I'm sure that's not true," she said softly.

I scoffed. "I couldn't even win a canoe race and now we'll lose this too."

"We won't lose," Hazel said adamantly. "We'll win and I'll make sure of it."

"How are you so optimistic?" I gaped at her. "You've been through so much and yet you still think on the positive side of things."

"What good would it do if I just wandered about in self-pity all my life? I got a second chance and I certainly don't want to spend it moping around," Hazel told me. "You only have one life to live, so don't spend all of it doubting yourself – it will always keep you back from what you're capable of and I've seen what you can do if you tried. I know you're more who you currently think you are, it's about time you started seeing that as well."

I was stunned into silence.

I didn't know what to think but deep down I knew she was right. I did let those girls torment me all the time; I did just rely on Ash to help me in class instead of doing something about it myself – standing up for myself _properly _and not just some feeble attempts at protest.

"I guess you're right," I admitted. "I haven't been trying hard enough."

Despite the fact that the doubt was dwindling, it will forever be there – I just can't let it hold me back.

Before Hazel could reply however, there was rustling from the trees up ahead and both of us snapped to attention. There were two hushed voices coming from further in the woods, some of the hunters had obviously made it passed the other campers' offence.

"Now it's time to practise that magic," Hazel told me hurriedly. "Do a spell – conceal us from them."

I closed my eyes and focused on what I wanted – to hide me and Hazel from the hunters.

I felt how the Mist was constantly shifting around us, an unseen magical barrier that I could tap into at anytime I wanted. I commanded it to wrap around us, to vanish us from view completely. It seemed to take forever but eventually when I opened my eyes again; Hazel was nowhere to be seen. When I looked down at myself, I could still see my arms and hands and my sword but somehow I knew that it had worked. I tried to maintain my focus, forcing the Mist to remain as it were.

Now it _really _reminded me of the Force.

I spotted movement from the undergrowth at the corner of my eye and turned.

Two hunters, probably in their early teens – one of them radiated power that almost made me falter. She had short, spiky black hair with electric blue eyes and she was holding a shield and a pointed spear. Both of them wore silvery parkas, camouflage pants and a silver circlet wrapped around their heads, something that must've been a necessity for Hunters of Artemis.

"That's Thalia Grace," Hazel's voice whispered from directly beside me, making me jump. "Jason's sister."

I didn't even know who Jason was so that wasn't exactly a clarification. Both of the hunters scanned the clearing, their eyes eventually resting on the lone blue flag that was happily flapping away to itself.

The girl beside Thalia Grace scoffed and went to walk forwards. "This was too easy."

"Wait," Thalia said, placing an arm in front of the girl. "This is a trap Jaci – you shouldn't underestimate the campers so much."

The girl named Jaci frowned, but drew her bow. "I don't see anything suspicious."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "The fact that they've apparently left their flag unguarded is what's suspicious. The other campers seem pretty confident enough not to worry about it either. You should pay attention to these details closer, they could be important."

_She's smart, _I thought with awe.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "What's the plan?" Hazel asked.

"There are two of us and two of them," I whispered, trying to come up with something. "Maybe we could take on one each, sneak up and disarm them before they can contemplate on fighting back?"

There wasn't much else I could think of; I wasn't a child of Athena after all.

My magic concealment seemed to be going strong to my surprise, it kept us safely hidden from view and away from the earshot of the two hunters that had now stepped gingerly into the clearing – ever so slowly edging their way towards the flag. I hoped Hazel would choose Thalia; I didn't fancy myself going against that girl but Jaci maybe.

"Then I'll go after Thalia," I heard Hazel say and I breathed a sigh of relief. "You take that Jaci girl."

I nodded despite the fact that she couldn't see me. I found myself grasping the handle of Augury tightly in my hand as I carefully stepped behind Jaci – I didn't want to accidently stand on anything that would make a noise. Something told me that the girl would have unbelievable accuracy with that bow.

And then, I lunged.

My arms wrapped themselves around the huntresses' waist and I tackled her to the ground. She let out a yelp of alarm, falling with me but her hands still holding onto her weapons. I cursed. By this time I had released my control on the Mist and both me and Hazel were now visible again. I tried to grab at her bow and yank it from her grip but she tugged it free and rolled to her feet.

Behind her, Hazel was parrying Thalia's jabs with her spear; cackles of electricity seemed to curl around the end – the hunter's face containing nothing but concentration.

Jaci nocked her bow and fired at me.

I barely managed to spin out of the way as the projectile sunk into the soil of where I just was. "Hey," I said angrily. "You're not allowed to maim."

"Whoops," the girl shrugged her shoulders. "Must've missed that part. Nice little trick you did there. You almost had us. I suppose you're a kid of Hecate."

"Yes," I said, gritting my teeth.

I had hardly known the girl for less than a few seconds and already I resented her. I lifted my sword, ready to deflect anymore of her arrows however I seemingly did not need to worry about them anymore. The huntress pulled out a bronze dagger from one of the sheaths attached to her leg and smiled.

_Uh oh, _I thought, _Augury please don't fail me now._

The huntress swiped forwards with barely comprehensible speed, and somehow I just managed to move Augury in time to deflect it – with a resounding _clash _echoing around the clearing.

Jaci's eyebrows arched in surprise. "You don't know much about combat, do you?" she said.

The doubt began to creep in again. Who the hell came up with this idea anyway – _oh wait, _that was me. I took a step backwards in the direction of the flag. I had to do something.

Hazel was too busy with Thalia's lightning fused spear and seemed to be tiring fast. I tried to swing my sword forwards but she easily batted it away with the dagger. I continued to swing again and again though, driving the huntress towards the location of Zeus' Fist and away from our flag. By this point a few others of my teammates had arrived, helping Hazel fight against the other huntress.

But then something moved behind Jaci and I faltered – this left the huntress an opening.

Almost within a blink of an eye she had slammed my sword from my grip and threw me to the ground. My head hit the earth and she placed a foot on my stomach, smiling victoriously. "That was pretty close – an admittedly nice try but now you have to surrender to me."

Suddenly I didn't think the Hunters of Artemis were as awesome anymore.

There was more movement from behind the huntress; I could just see the distinct silhouetted shape of what seemed to be a giant ant-like creature. My heart raced – it was heading straight for her.

"Watch out!" I shouted, I pushed upwards and tackled the girl out of the way of an oncoming spray of poison that the creature had spat at us.

"That's a myrmeke," Jaci said. "And when there's one myrmeke, there's a whole colony of them."

"Well, I don't see any more at the moment so how the hell do we kill this one?" I said hurriedly as it jumped towards us again, it had a pair of vicious looking mandibles that I didn't particularly want to be on the receiving end of.

She didn't reply, instead Jaci shot a series of arrows towards it, but they just bounced off of its back armour harmlessly. Then that's when I heard it – the distant sounds of someone crying for help. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of Zeus' Fist, at least behind it anyway.

"This is useless," Jaci snapped. "We're just going to have to run for it."

"You're a Hunter of Artemis and you're encouraging us to run away?"

"I'm new at this! Cut me some slack!" she retorted. "We cannot win this battle unless you have something better to suggest _magic girl?_"

Magic girl? Seriously? Gods that insult was worse than Ash's towards Charlotte Novak and her cronies. I was about to mention so when a thought, a glimmer of an idea occurred to me. I remembered how Hazel had tricked me into thinking Gale was a lion – she used the Mist to create an illusion. Maybe if I concentrated enough I could do the same to me and Jaci.

I looked back at the myrmeke, imaging its physique. "I do have an idea," I said. "I just don't think you're going to be a fan of it."

She squinted at me. "What is it?"

"Just cover me. You'll soon find out anyway."

I sheathed Augury and stepped backwards whilst Jaci reluctantly complied with my demand. I lifted my hands, focusing on the picture of the giant ant and willed the Mist to change us into something similar. Slowly, I felt myself shrink in size – I grew multiple thinning legs and my own set of mandibles. When I sluggishly looked back around, there was now three myrmekes' standing in the clearing, including myself.

Being an ant was by no means nice (big shocker) and I reminded myself to never do something like this again. My eyes had grown larger which seemed to make the world appear ten-times wider. My own mandibles were huge, protruding out of my face – I was so glad that this was only temporary.

I would never recommend becoming stuck like this.

The ant who I assumed was now Jaci seemed to be having the same problem. She was jumping around, flailing about as if she was in a panic – maybe I should've told her what I was planning. The real myrmeke was a completely different story altogether. It had stopped attacking us but I could somehow feel it hesitating, I could feel its confusion as it observed me and Jaci.

_Keep calm, _I said to the huntress – well at least I hoped I said it, I wasn't completely sure how these things communicated, _follow my lead._

_What in the name of the gods have you done to us, _came her reply. Ha! So it did work.

I would raise my eyebrows if I had them. _Hey I'm not hearing a thank-you here – I just saved your butt twice. You can either run away and it'll wear off eventually or you can follow me in helping that person who cried for help earlier._

Before she could answer, I skittered off with the other myrmeke towards the direction of Zeus' Fist.

The person was still crying for help and I was intending to do just that. I walked around the corner and was immediately swarmed by more large, acid-spitting myrmekes like myself. They all seemed to be looking upwards at the rocks and I finally found the source of the shouting. It was a young girl, probably just a little bit older than me. She had long curly black hair, tanned skin and her chocolate-brown eyes were wide with panic.

It looked as though she'd been through a whole lot of monsters judging by her torn up pink t-shirt, leather jacket and jeans. She was waving a dagger about, a golden shiny dagger that I felt immediately attracted to.

_So shiny, so so shiny, I need shiny thing, _I couldn't stop myself from thinking, _must obtain shiny thing for nest._

I found myself inching forwards – like a moth to a flame. _Such shininess, such preciousness –_

I halted. The fact that I had now begun to sound like Gollum from _Lord of the Rings _snapped me back into reality. I needed to help this girl, not mug her like the other giant ants intended. I began working my way through the crowd again, only this time with good intentions.

_Scuse' me...excusez-moi_, I said to the other ants who rather grudgingly moved aside, _damsel in distress in need of urgent help._

Finally, I made it to the front and I began to use my six legs to climb up the rocks.

The girl yelped in fright and chucked her dagger at me. Had I been human that probably would've gone south pretty quickly, but thankfully the ant's unbreakable armour kept me safe. The dagger simply bounced off of my back and into the crowd who swarmed around it like seagulls when they battle for a piece of bread (creative comparison, right? I know – I was pretty proud of that myself).

She probably would've scrambled away from me but there wasn't much room to do so without falling into the other ants. Eventually, once I decided that I was high enough, I willed myself back into my original form.

"Hi," I said whilst waving.

The girl screamed.


	8. I rescue a demigod

**8.**

_I rescue a demigod named Regina_

_and Nico Di Angelo gives me a lesson._

Usually I would've taken offence to this kind of reaction had I not seen where she was coming from.

It not's everyday that you get swarmed by giant ants, and it's certainly not every day that one of those said ants miraculously transforms into an incredibly attractive demigod (I'm kidding of course). But if I had to say one thing – Hades could this girl wail like a banshee. At this point I'm pretty sure the whole camp had been alerted to her presence.

I held my hands up in the air.

"You're fine – I'm here to help you!" I tried to assure her.

"W-Who are you?" she spluttered, her eyes nervously darting back at the myrmekes again, all of them had now regained interest in both of us. "How did y-you do that?"

"My name is Clara," I told her. "And I'm a demigod but look, if want to escape the myrmekes – you're going to have to trust me. I'm going to do something that may be a bit strange or unusual so try not to freak out or anything, okay? What's your name?"

She examined me, probably trying to sense for any ulterior motives. When she was apparently convinced that I wasn't trying to fool her, she said, "Regina."

I might've laughed had we not been in such a dire situation.

I was pretty sure Regina was a character from the film _Mean Girls _but thought it probably wasn't helpful to mention so. Besides, making fun of someone's name upon meeting each other is no way to start a friendly relationship. So, instead, I nodded and looked upwards at the moon.

It was a clear night sky, allowing for the pale moonlight to illuminate us. I hadn't noticed this before, but somehow I felt even stronger than I did earlier like I'd just suddenly woken up from a nice, long nap. The feeling was strange but I knew I didn't have enough time to ponder on it. I turned and reached for her hand, willing the Mist to once again conceal me and the girl.

She vanished but I still felt her hand grip my own.

Having lost sight of their prey, the giant ants began to squabble amongst themselves over whoever would take the golden dagger. I took that as an opportunity to lead Regina down the stones of Zeus' Fist and back towards where the flag should be. There was no sign of Thalia, Hazel, Jaci or any of the other kids when we got there – our flag had now disappeared and I dreaded what that might mean.

I released the spell and let go of the girl's hand.

She swayed uneasily on her feet, her face a worrying shade of pale. Her eyes seemed glazed as she stared at me. "Your helmet's lopsided," she slurred.

And then she fainted.

She fell forwards and I had to go to extreme lengths in order to catch her, almost toppling to the floor in the process. "Glad you've got your priorities straight there," I said. My arms burned from trying to keep the girl upright so instead I carefully led her out on the ground and waited for someone to help.

*~PJ~*

"And you're saying her name is Regina?" said Chiron as we stood in front of the Big House.

After it was announced that the Hunters of Artemis had won capture the flag (I probably would've felt more gutted had I not been worrying about the girl), some of the demigods and a few hunters carried Regina on a stretcher to the infirmary where she was currently being tended to by the Apollo kids.

I nodded. "That's what she told me."

It was still night time, nearing the end of tonight's bonfire and sing-a-long session. The moon remained gleaming proudly in the sky, highlighting Chiron's baffled expression. "I simply just don't understand how nobody noticed her entering the camp," he said. "Argus didn't sense anything out of the ordinary, Peleus didn't react any differently."

"She must be like us though," I said. "She has to be a demigod to get pass the barrier, hasn't she?"

"Oh she's certainly a demigod otherwise we wouldn't have been able to give her any ambrosia. She's reacted well to it, healing faster than any regular mortal would," he sighed, peering down at me. "Perhaps we'll learn of the full story once she's awoken – for now, you should return to your cabin and get some sleep. I shall inform you if there has been any drastic changes in her condition."

I went to walk down the steps of the wraparound porch when I paused as something occurred to me. "When I found her she was holding a golden dagger – like it was made out of the same metal as Augury," I explained to him. "That must mean she knows who she is. She didn't just accidentally stumble across the camp. And then when I told her that I was a demigod, she trusted me."

Chiron pondered this for a while. "It's quite likely that her other parent knew of her godly parentage and sent her here once it got too dangerous."

"But the dagger," I said. "Where would a mortal get that kind of dagger from?"

The centaur seemed to scratch his head as if he couldn't suss that one either. "I am not sure, alas it will probably remain a mystery until she is well enough to speak again," then he smiled. "You shouldn't worry so much about it, child. Undetermined demigods dropping into the camp unannounced is not a rare occurrence – though they are usually paired with a satyr."

"Like Ash."

"Indeed," he replied, his expression softened. "You should be very proud of what you did tonight Clara – saving Regina was certainly a heroic gesture most honourable, especially since you yourself have only recently arrived at the camp."

I pulled a face. "I'm sure the other campers wouldn't think of it that way. I failed in protecting the flag."

He waved off the statement. "They'll come to understand eventually. Saving a life is much more important than a simple game – despite the fact that the hunters have now won once again. You'll get plenty of other chances to prove yourself."

With that thought in mind, I headed back to the cabins.

In the distance I could briefly see the bright lights of the flickering fire as the campers sung around it. However tonight the songs didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as yesterday – there was no laughter like normal. I couldn't tell if this because they had lost the game or that they were too curious about the mystery girl who had entered camp from the wrong direction.

I looked down at Augury, the blade reflecting in the moonlight. Still had it not seen a victorious battle, it had always been on the losing side of a fight. Out of all its owners I was probably the most useless one it's had.

I circled around Hestia's Hearth and was just reaching the Hecate Cabin when a voice that seemed to come from the very depths of the shadows called out, "You took your time."

I stumbled backwards, almost tripping over my own feet in fright. "_Jesus_," I gasped.

"Nah," the voice replied sounding amused and I watched as Nico Di Angelo stepped out of the gap between the two cabins and smirked. "Just call me Nico."

"Why did you do that for?" I snapped, slowly willing my heart to stop hammering in my chest.

The boy merely shrugged. "Hazel said you needed my help with something, so –" he gestured to himself. "Here I am, ready to be of assistance."

"But did you really have to hide in the shadows like that?"

"Probably not."

I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something that would likely end up with me getting sent to Hades. So instead, I nodded as if this was a perfectly reasonable explanation and tried to keep a straight face. "Did she tell you what I needed your help for?"

"Oh no," he shook his head. "I already knew – your aura gave it all away as soon as I met you. It's different compared to the other kids of Hecate."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I noticed that 'special' ability of yours before anyone else did," Nico took another step forwards. "Also – you're not nearly as subtle as you think you are. I know you summoned someone this morning, I sensed it, an unauthorised spirit from the Underworld. I'd say you're pretty lucky Hades is close with your mother otherwise you'd probably be in quite some trouble by now."

"So you're helping me not only because Hazel asked you to but also because our parents are best buds hanging out together in the Underworld?"

"Partially," he replied. "But also because you don't properly understand your own powers yet and, believe it or not, I understand what that's like – I had to figure it out all on my own. I'm a reformed guy; you can ask me anything you want."

"Your boyfriend also put you up to this, didn't he?" I smirked.

"Uh, maybe – look, do you want my help or not because I could just –"

"Yes! Yes I want your help," I assured him, reminding myself that if I ever need to reduce the son of Hades into a bumbling mess again, all I needed to do was mention Will Solace. "So how does it work? Sometimes I can purposely summon...y'know –"

"Dead people," Nico said bluntly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes dead people. But then other times I don't actually mean to do it...I can just feel their energies and then I just...pluck them into existence. How do I stop it? How do I ignore it?"

"This isn't something you can just _ignore_ – it will always be there no matter how hard you try and push it away," the son of Hades informed me firmly. "Everything about necromancy is tied to emotions – happiness, fear, love, _anger_. As long as you still feel those feelings, you will always be able to communicate and summon spirits, whether it might be willingly or not."

I felt my shoulders slump in defeat.

"But," he continued. "There's a way you can control it, to tame it."

"And how do I do _that_?"

"Keep your emotions under control and then channel them directly."

He told me this like it was the simplest thing in the world but I had no idea what he was talking about.

How do you keep your feelings under control? And does he realise that telling a _pre-teen_ to get their feelings under control was probably one of the most laughable things ever said. But then again, it was the only advice I'd ever gotten and so I had to take it into consideration or at least find a way to do what he was telling me. I was just about to respond when the sound of approaching footsteps came from behind us.

I turned around.

There was Jaci, the girl who had tried to shoot me with an arrow, strolling towards us like she owned the very ground she walked on. I went to look back at Nico only to see that he had somehow vanished into thin air.

"How does he do that?" I mumbled to myself.

"Clara Gilley," Jaci spoke out, returning my attention to her. "That's your name, isn't it?"

Now that she wasn't trying to kill me, I could take a proper look at what the girl looked like. She seemed to be only a few centimetres taller than me with shoulder-length auburn hair and shocking amber eyes. The girl was still wearing her Hunters of Artemis attire, though she was without her bow and arrows (thank the gods).

"Apparently so," I replied dryly. "I see my spell wore off. A shame really, I quite liked you as an ant."

Jaci's face twitched with irritation but eventually she attempted to school her features into a friendly smile which (in reality) made her look like she was grimacing. "I just wanted to say thank-you, for helping me."

"What kind of person cares more about some stupid flag over someone else's life?" I said and I felt the anger bubble up in my stomach. "Why didn't you come to help me?"

The huntress pointed her nose up into the air indignantly. "You seemed to have it under control."

"You can shove your apology – you don't deserve to be a hunter," I snapped and spun away, heading towards my cabin without a single glance back at Jaci. What kind of person cared more about winning a _game_ than saving someone's life? I may not know the rules that the hunters had to follow but I was sure that wasn't one of them.

I stepped into the cabin and sat myself down on my bunk with a huff.

Gale, upon hearing my arrival, scrambled down the staircase and ran over to me. "Why are you even here?" I demanded. "Why did my mother send you? Have I got something to prove?"

Naturally, the polecat didn't reply. She just stared up at me with those red eyes and remained silent.

I sighed and led backwards on my bed – rubbing my eyes. I didn't know what to do right at that moment. I tried to think of what Nico had meant about controlling my emotions, I thought about what my mom would be doing right now and then I thought about Ash who I hadn't properly seen since breakfast this morning. Everything seemed to be this one large mess that I didn't even know how to put back together again.

Who was I? What was I meant to do?

Why was I the only child of Hecate that had this power? I didn't deserve or want it by any means; I could think of a list of names from my cabin that should've had the ability more so than me.

Eventually, I must've fallen asleep because I soon found myself wandering through the world of dreams.

*~PJ~*

I wasn't quite sure where I was standing at first.

For a while everything seemed like one big smudge of colour until eventually it started to solidify into a vaguely familiar suburban street. It was a foggy night, dimming the moon's eerie glow with the lampposts barely even brightening the area around them.

At first, it seemed as though there was no one about.

Everybody appeared to be safely tucked away in their beds, happily oblivious to the world around them. But then, two figures manifested out of the fog, shuffling themselves down the street until they reached an intersection. Then they stopped and looked around.

"You're sure we're not lost?" a feminine sounding voice soon reached my ears.

"Of course not!" snapped another. "I've been to this city before."

I peered closer at the silhouetted figures.

Upon just glancing at the two women it looked as though they were just ordinary (and admittedly beautiful) ladies simply walking through the streets of a city after a night out.

But then if you _really _look, peeling away the Mist's clever concealment and revealing something so truly horrid that I heard myself gasp in horror. Both of them had seriously pale skin with glaring ruby red eyes that would've given Gale a true run for her money. Their once flawlessly flowing hair transformed into blinding bright flames and their open mouths were lined with sharp, jutting fangs.

Their legs, which certainly weren't hidden from view by their dresses, consisted of one donkey and what seemed to be a prosthetic bronze leg.

"Circe gave us the address, it should be a few blocks away," said one of them. "And then we take the woman by the surprise."

"Why couldn't Circe just do it?" the other huffed. "After all, she claims to be so much more powerful than us."

"Keep your voice down! May I remind you that she can turn us into anything she wants if we displease her Chandra? We're doing this so we won't end up as some mouse or a guinea pig like she did to poor Bertha," the woman continued. "She promised us a better life compared to what we were living and that's all I need to know. I suggest you do the same. Soon the plan will be carried out and I want to be on the winning side once it does. Circe will prevail."

"This plan is one of insanity," Chandra retorted. "Circe has no chance against our former mistress."

"Then why would you dare join this cause?"

There was a pause, as if the person was pondering on this thought. "It appeared as if I had no choice," the lady replied. "All our sisters have followed the same path. I would have been foolish to remain alone but now I think that decision will have dire consequences. We will -"

The opposite creature raised her hand, both of their backs suddenly stiffened as if they just realised something. "Hold on – it appears as if we have an _eavesdropper_," in unison, they both turned to face where I was standing a few metres away.

I felt my heart speed up in my chest.

"You pesky little _demigod_, where are your manners?"

Both of them abruptly lunged towards me, their claws ready to rip me to pieces and I screamed myself awake.

I felt my face connect with the cool, hard ground of the cabin, the rest of my body sprawled uncomfortably across the floor. I had obviously fallen asleep with my sword still resting on my bed as there was a resounding _clash _as the weapon clattered beside me.

I groaned, rolled onto my back and looked upwards, only to be met with the multiple faces of my cabinmates. All of them were in their pyjamas, their eyes bleary from sleep and I probably just woke them up.

"Are you okay?" asked a boy called Levi.

I nodded, sitting up. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to go over the dream in my head. "Just a nightmare," I replied. "Sorry for waking you all up, this usually doesn't happen."

They smiled at me, each of them staring with those familiar green eyes. Lou Ellen stepped forwards and helped me up. "Don't be sorry," she told me. "Demigods are known to have nightmares. We all get them at some point. What was it about?"

So I told them. I told them about the deserted street, the conversation that took place and the appearance of the two women who had managed to tear me away from my own dream. My heart rate had eventually settled once I'd finished.

Levi turned to Lou Ellen. "That sounds like _empousai_ to me," he said.

"_Empousai_?" I repeated.

"They're bloodsucking creatures usually under the control of our mother Hecate," one of my other siblings explained.

"I don't get it. If they're under her control why did they attack me? And why did I dream about them? What do you think it all means?" the rest of them crowded around me, listening intently to the conversation.

"By the sounds of it, they're currently under the control of Circe – another child of Hecate...I guess that's not unusual," pondered another girl named Kimberley. "But I thought Circe was running that C.C's Spar and Resort place in the Sea of Monsters, unless something happened."

"Something _did_ happen," Lou Ellen reminded them. "Percy and Annabeth said the island was overrun by pirates, she probably ended up returning to the mainland."

Meanwhile, I was completely at a loss. Who were Percy and Annabeth exactly? Who was Circe and what was C.C's Spar and Resort that apparently got overrun by pirates? Mythology everyone, mythology.

"Well, maybe it's nothing," I spoke at last. "Maybe it's just some ordinary nightmare."

"Demigods don't have ordinary nightmares. They must be up to something and maybe it's you that has to stop them in the end."


	9. I talk to the damsel

**9.**

_I meet the damsel in distress_

_and we get a new archery teacher._

I wasn't really sure what to make of that sudden development and immediately shrugged it off.

There was no way that I was the one who had to stop this Circe woman and her minions – if that was really the case then I'm sure I'll be doomed from the start. Why did it have to be me? Why not anyone else? That was the two major questions that I kept asking myself and they were still swirling around my head as I scooped some of my buttered toast into the pavilion fire.

I had hoped that Hecate would've at least given me some kind of sign as to why but alas it never came.

I sat myself down at the Hecate table and ate my breakfast as usual. Gale had become usually silent since my dream, almost as if she knew something about it that she couldn't tell me.

It was around nine am when Hazel eventually found me just as I was heading to sword and shield lessons with some of my cabinmates. She was dressed in her usual purple Camp Jupiter shirt and jeans. Her cavalry sword was sheathed in its usual spot.

"Hey," I said, bowing my head slightly. "Look – I'm sorry about running off during the game. I didn't intend to purposely make us lose –"

Hazel stared at me as if I had grown a second head. "I don't care about the game."

"But you said –"

"I know what I said," she said with a smile. "But that was before I knew that a girl was going to be in danger. Had I known that I probably wouldn't have said it. You'll win next time, though, _that _I'm sure of."

I knitted my brows together. "So you're not mad?"

"Of course I'm not mad, I have no right to be," Hazel shrugged. "I mean I would've been mad if you hadn't gone to save the girl and just continued the game."

"Maybe next time there won't be any damsels in distress," I laughed. We were heading over to the combat arena near the southern woods. I had been hoping that this time I might actually win a sparring session against someone. My hand wrapped itself around the hilt of Augury, the blade needed to see some kind of victory eventually.

"You'll have to let me know," the Roman demigod said as we stopped in front of the arena. "Today's my last day til' I head back to Camp Jupiter."

"You travelled all the way from your camp just to spend a few days here?"

"I was lucky that I even got a few days. I'm a Centurion of the Fifth Cohort so I'm needed more there than here," she explained. "I come to see Nico occasionally but that's about it really. I'm sure I'll meet you again in the future though – I don't forget about my friends very easily you know."

My eyes widened. "Wait. You consider me as your friend?"

Hazel frowned. "Yes, of course I do – why wouldn't I?"

"Well because...because you haven't known me that long – I would've thought that you saw me as more of an acquaintance than a friend," I shook my head. "-Not that I don't mind being friends, I'll be your friend for sure. It's just that I don't have many of them so you kind of took me by surprise and that..."

The Roman demigod quirked up an eyebrow. "Well you're definitely my friend so you might as well get used to it I guess."

I found myself smiling.

*~PJ~*

Luckily this time my sparring partner was not a child of luck (see what I did there?) Unluckily however, I was paired up with Ellis Wakefield from the Ares Cabin. He had obtained a kopis from the armoury and was _very_ passionate about winning. Then again, this was probably to be expected since he was the son of the _war_ god and all. In comparison to his muscular build I was pretty minuscule, making the whole fight seem pretty unfair.

He swung the kopis forwards and I brought up Augury to parry it just in time. "You're getting better," he noted, stepping backwards into a defensive position. "Still a bit slow though."

I found myself swinging Augury towards him before even I properly knew what I was doing. The bronze blade zipped through the air with a _whoosh _and smashed against his chest-plate. The boy was sent stumbling backwards in a daze, almost falling over in surprise.

"Didn't see that coming did you?" I said with a smirk. "Isn't that what you taught us? To always be on our guard at every second."

The son of Ares muttered something under his breath and looked around the arena, making sure nobody had seen his little slip up. "Then let's see how well you'll do when I'm on my guard," he said with a hint of meanness in his eyes. Ellis stepped forwards again and then pointed his kopis directly at where I was standing. "A Hecate kid against a child of Ares – who do _you_ think will be the most favourable to win?"

"I'm guessing you want me to say you?" I replied, lifting up my shield.

"You made us lose capture the flag against the hunters," he stated. "Of course I'm going to win and this will be my payback."

Ellis lurched forwards, faster than I could even contemplate. He jammed his body into my shield and I found myself toppling backwards onto the ground, groaning as some of my armour pinched painfully into my skin. Ellis let his arms drop as he shrugged.

"See what I mean," he said nonchalantly. "You're pretty useless when it comes to combat."

"We lost the game because someone was in real danger. A game isn't more important than someone's life," I spat bitterly, staring up at him.

The corner of his mouth twitched. "It is to someone like me."

I kicked out my leg, swiping at his own. He fell with a grunt beside me, a loud resounding crunch echoed out as his armour made contact with the floor. Rolling to my feet, I grasped the hilt of Augury and pointed it at him. "Then you're in the wrong," I stated. "If you're throwing tantrums over a stupid game then you clearly don't have your priorities straight dude."

The boy laughed. "Remember who you're talking to – a son of a _war_ god. Winning is always my priority."

"That's quite enough," called a familiar voice from across the arena.

Chiron had entered and was staring straight at us with a narrowed gaze. His hooves made their continuous _clip-clop _sound as he walked across towards us. "It is not Clara's fault that the camp lost the game to the hunters, you should know this Ellis. There will always be a next time," and then he turned towards me. "And as for you, Regina has woken from her sleep – it would be best if you were the first one she saw."

I nodded and looked at Ellis. "I'm sorry," I said.

For a while the boy said nothing, and then his shoulders slumped in defeat under Chiron's watchful gaze. "You shouldn't be sorry – it's my fault, I shouldn't have got so worked up over a game."

After ridding myself of my armour and shield, I followed Chiron across the camp towards the Big House where Regina was being kept in the infirmary. I had to admit I was a little nervous about talking to the girl properly, after all she had only known me for less than two minutes and half of that time I had been a giant ant.

The centaur led me all the way to the door of the infirmary before halting in front of it. "Now, you mustn't try to freak her out so much," he said. "She still needs some more rest until she'll be fully healed."

"Got it," I said with a nod. "No freaking her out."

And then he opened the door and let me through.

There was nobody else in the infirmary except for the girl. She was led back on one of the end beds, one of her hands wrapped up in bandages. There was a strong smell of medical supplies and disinfectant, like what a hospital usually smelt like as I hesitantly walked down towards her. I had decided to keep my sword back at my cabin so that it wouldn't scare her as much.

At the noise of my footsteps, her head looked up towards me, a frown instantly pulling the ends of her lips downwards. "I know you..." she said in a croaky voice. "You're the girl who was one of those giant ant thingies."

"Yeah," I winced. "Sorry about scaring you like that. It was the only way I could think of to get pass them unnoticed."

I sat myself down on the opposite bed.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Let me explain that part until last. How about we start simple, like...what's your name? I'll start," I told her. "My name is Clara Gilley and I'm twelve but thirteen in like a few months time. I also happen to be a demigod, just like you."

Regina opened her mouth, then closed it – seemingly pondering on what she could respond with. She eyed me suspiciously for a while, like she had done back on Zeus' Fist before eventually speaking again. "I'm Regina Sanders," she informed me. "Just turned fourteen last week and I'm...I think I'm also a..."

"A demigod?" I supplied.

She nodded.

"Yeah," Regina continued. "My dad told me the directions to this camp...he said that it could help protect me because of who I was. He was going to come with me but –"

Her voice hitched. I tilted my head to the side and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay – I won't push you or anything," I leaned backwards. "I just got here myself, you know. A few days ago me, my mom and my friend were attacked by these really ugly looking giants – I mean talk about a face only a mother could love –"

The girl laughed as I continued. "My friend, Ash, was going to be their main course for the night had me and my mom not stopped them in time. Then she sent me here where my other mother claimed me – the mother that's the god anyway."

Regina's nosed wrinkled. "You have two moms?"

"No – I mean yes, kind of..." I thought for a moment. "I was adopted when I was two. I've never met my bio mom though."

"I've never met mine either."

"That's the gods for you apparently," I said. "Do you know much about the Greek gods?"

"Not much other than what we learnt in class," Regina replied. "I know about Hercules, Zeus and Hera – but that's about it really. I was never much a mythology fan."

"Me neither," I rested my head on my hands. "I must warn you though – you'll see a lot of strange things when you walk out of the infirmary so try not to freak out too much. Our activities director is a half-horse, half-human – his name is Chiron and he's very nice. He'll tell you all the details about this place. There are also people who have goat legs and flying horses which you'll actually get to ride. It's so cool, you'll love it."

Regina smiled. "I'll keep that in mind," she sat up into a sitting position, her expression faltering slightly. "How will I know who my mother is?"

"She should claim you – sometimes the gods cast symbols over your head to claim you as theirs, that's what happened to me. My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic, crossroads and the Mist," I gestured to myself. "This is how I managed to become that giant ant thing you were on about earlier."

We fell into silence for a while – Regina taking all this information in slowly. Eventually, she seemed to perk up though there was still an aura of melancholy that I reckon wouldn't go away for a while yet. "Will you show me around the camp?"

I blinked. "You don't want Chiron to?"

"I am more familiar with you. That is if it's not a problem to you at all."

"No no – definitely not," I assured her quickly. "I can take you around the camp if you want me to. I just might not be the best tour guide but I can sure give it a try - only when you're better though."

This made the girl frown. "I am better."

"Not completely. You've still got a little way to go yet until you're completely healthy again," I told her. "Those myrmekes you fought spit poison, some of it must've gotten on you. When I found you, you also looked like you had your head bashed around quite a bit – that probably gave you some nasty concussion. Tomorrow, I'll show you around, I promise."

She nodded and led back down.

Once I was sure that Regina didn't look even remotely close to freaking out over the whole 'Greek Gods Are Real Revelation', I stood up again. "Well," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I guess I'll be going-"

"Going?" Regina sat bolt upright and the movement seemed to make her wince. "Where are you going? Can't you stay here?"

Her reaction took me by surprise that for a moment I didn't really know how to respond. "U-Umm well, I have to go to archery practice and then the dining pavilion...all the demigods here do it but I promise I'll be back later if Chiron lets me," I said eventually. "I can tell you more about the camp and everything."

Regina still looked uneasy to accept this idea, but then gave a small nod. "You're definitely certain that you can come back later?"

"Sure," I nodded. "I'm sure Chiron will understand. Get more rest for now though, can't have you hurting yourself any more now can we?"

This seemed to give the girl enough comfort that she carefully led back down again but her chocolate-brown eyes were still fixated on where I was standing. I gave a small smile and wave before heading towards the infirmary doors and outside of the Big House to where Chiron was stood waiting.

"She's okay. Just confused," I said and then hesitated.

The centaur quirked up an eyebrow. "You wish to ask me something?"

"She wants me to come back later, after all the activities to speak with her again," I blurted out before I could stop myself. "Can I do that? I promise I won't do anything stupid. It's just that she seems really _really _confused and for some reason, I don't know why, she prefers speaking to me than anyone else and-"

Chiron raised his hand and my babbling fell into silence.

"Relax child," he said and my shoulders slumped. "I understand and will allow you to stay with Regina for however long she wishes. Camp Half-Blood is all about making demigods feel comfortable and if that's the way she wishes to do so then so be it."

I grinned. "Thank-you."

He gave me a smile and then nodded. "I believe you have an archery lesson to get to."

"Oh right yeah," I hurried off. "I should go attend that."

Luckily the archery range wasn't too far from the Big House so the time it took to get there wasn't that long. I grabbed what I needed (a bow with a quiver of arrows) and then stood next to Levi and Kimberley from my own cabin.

"Where did you get to?" Levi asked curiously.

"Talking to that girl who arrived at camp last night," I replied.

Kimberley gasped. "Oh that girl," she said as if just recalling the events. "I heard that she got hit with some poison from the myrmekes, is she okay?"

"She's fine," I assured them. "Just weirded out by it all."

There was a beat of silence.

"Did you tell Chiron about your dream?"

I paused.

I didn't even think about telling the centaur about the dream but now that I was, I pondered on whether it would be a good idea. How did I know that the dream was even real? It could've been something my brain concocted as a side effect from being so unexpectedly thrown into this completely random world. But then again, I had never seen an _empousai _before or even heard of this Circe woman so how was it even the slightest bit possible that I made it up.

"I don't know," I said. "I don't want to cause any panic over something that's probably not even worth worrying about."

Kim and Levi exchanged looks.

"I would tell him," Levi said eventually. "It'll be much better if you were to get a second opinion on it, especially from someone like him."

I knew they were right, I just didn't like thinking about it. It still sent shivers down my spine the way the empousa's red eyes glared into my soul or the way that their sharp fangs looked capable of tearing through my skin with ease. If they were what I had to face, I'd rather someone else took my place instead.

"Okay," I relented. "I'll tell him during archery."

"Oh," Kimberley looked meek. "He isn't the one teaching us archery today."

"What?" I swivelled my head to face them. "Then who is?"

"That would be me," spoke a voice that I knew all too well and silently hoped that my ears were playing tricks on me as I turned around to face the source.

I cursed inwardly.

Jaci was teaching us archery and the way she was looking at me suggested that she was going to use me as the target.


	10. I faint (again)

**10.**

_I faint (again)_

_and get an unexpected, nasty surprise._

I guess the huntress still held a grudge against me about what I said yesterday, because no matter what I did her criticism was _unrelenting_.

And I wasn't exaggerating when I said this. I understood the need for the occasional press or prod in order to get someone to improve but when that press or prod is directed solely at one person (you guessed it, me) then I really doubt that it could actually be called 'occasional' anymore.

I wrapped my hand against the grip of the bow, my two fingers nudging back the arrow ever so slowly so that it was aligned with the bulls-eye of the target. I knew the drill, well, sort of. I knew that where to put my feet and to stand at the side so that I was not facing directly towards the board. To be fair, I wasn't doing anything different from what anyone else in the archery lesson was doing.

But yet still she chose to pick on me. I can't say I was surprised.

Her hand reached out and grasped my wrist, pushing it upwards. "You need to stand up straight," she snapped in my ear. "Stop slouching."

"I'm not," I replied irritably. "I'm doing exactly what everyone else is doing. Back off, would you?"

"If I just 'backed off' as you put it, I wouldn't be doing my job," Jaci replied dryly.

"I don't understand why someone gave you this job in the first place," I muttered under my breath and was glad when the huntress didn't seem to have heard me. Without looking in her direction, I straightened my posture as far as I could and released the arrow from its nock. The projectile zipped through the air and landed with a soft _thud_ into one of the rings outside the bulls-eye.

"See, I'm doing something right."

She let out a harrumph, lifting her nose into the air. "Do it again and this time at least _try_ and hit the middle."

I felt my blood boil. I was trying so freaking hard not to point the next stupid arrow towards her face instead. Though something told me I'd get into a lot of trouble for that. "Why can't you just go and annoy someone else?" I complained. "You have other students you know."

Jaci raised an eyebrow and I always had to remind myself that this girl could only be around the age of fifteen. The way she acted, however, suggested an age much older. "I do know I have other students," she smirked. "But unlike you, they can actually fire a bow without with the potential risk of injuring themselves or others around them."

"I _can_ do that," I retorted. "You're just making me nervous."

"Then what if I was a monster?" she said. "Are you going to allow yourself to miss your target then because they make you nervous too?"

I bit my tongue, knowing she had a point. She reached down and lifted another arrow from my quiver and then shoved it into my hand. "You can't always rely on a sword," Jaci said. "Sometimes you just have to use long-range weapons in order to be more effective."

Nocking the arrow into place, I gave her a side glance. "Or you could just throw the sword."

"Then you've just lost one of your main weapons and likely your life as well."

I scowled and she gave me a knowing smile. This time when I let the arrow fly, it was much closer to the target then my previous one had been. "It's nearer to the middle now, happy?"

"The aim is to hit the middle."

At this point I'd had enough. I threw down the bow and glared at her. "What is your problem?"

My shout had earned the attentions of the other campers but Jaci's face remained impassive. "I don't have a problem," she said. "I'm just doing what I was asked to do by Chiron, teach brats like you how to shoot a bow."

"Then why don't you teach us that instead of just hounding me! Or you could ask one of the other hunters, you know someone who actually deserves it, to do it for you!" I snarled. "Then you wouldn't have to put up with us 'brats' then."

There was a collection of gasps and giggles from the rest of the campers and I could see Jaci's eyes narrow with fury. "How dare you?" she shouted. "If I wasn't worthy of becoming Her Lady's hunter then she wouldn't have appointed me."

"Maybe because at the time she didn't realise how much of a coward you are," I replied. "I'm sick of people like you pushing me around all the time."

The words came out before I could even stop them but something about this girl really got under my skin. As someone who had dealt with Charlotte Novak's persistent name calling and bullying, I should've been able to keep a straight face. I knew I had probably pushed the huntress's buttons too far and couldn't say I was surprised when I was promptly sent flying several metres in the air.

My back hit the ground and I groaned.

The silhouette of Jaci loomed above me, her face flushed with fury. "I am the daughter of Nike, goddess of victory – I am anything but a coward."

_Ah, _I thought, _that explains that insistent need to win everything._

"Oh?" I responded even though my shoulder was screaming in agony. "Is that why you started panicking like a little girl when I turned you into an ant? Or why you ran off instead of helping me save Regina?"

Jaci growled and her hands soon gripped onto the collar of my shirt.

With a display of strength that took me off-guard, she tugged me to my feet. "You know nothing about me," she snarled. "I did what I thought was the best decision which was to go and get help. While you went off and boldly risked your butt for someone you didn't even know. You're a worthless child of Hecate."

"Jaci," called a stern voice that I recognised earlier from capture the flag. Thalia Grace appeared through the group of campers that had gathered around the scene. I spotted Ash at the back, trying to push his way through the crowd. "Leave her be."

She shoved me away and I stumbled to keep my balance. "Pathetic."

Mixed with the embarrassment, I felt a sudden surge of anger that I hadn't felt before in my whole life.

It felt powerful, a burning hot flame that burst to life within my gut and was so strong I didn't think I could extinguish it. I didn't notice how cold it had gotten over the roaring rush of blood in my ears. My pounding heart stopped me from seeing the thick mist which had crept around us, swallowing up the archery range. A frosty chill began to set in, helping to block out the sun's warm rays.

Then I heard the voices and there was so many.

Each of them crying, laughing or screaming as if echoing the past. My eyes caught flickers of shapes darting and moving through the mist, moving closer to where Jaci stood shaking. Their hands reached out desperately towards her, trying to tug her deeper into the mist.

Most of the spectres I saw couldn't have been any older than me.

How many people had died here? And why so many deaths in a place that was supposedly a safe-haven for demigods like us?

I couldn't see any of the campers anymore. The mist was so thick that it hid them from view; I could only focus on Jaci. The girl was swatting away the outstretched hands, trying to find her way back to where the group had just been standing.

"What are you doing?" she screamed at me.

That was the thing. I couldn't explain it. I didn't really know what I was doing. I just couldn't get my brain to focus. No matter how hard I tried; it simply wouldn't cooperate.

_Stop, stop, stop – please_, I ordered but they didn't respond. _I command you to stop!_

Nothing. Not even a whisper.

Just as I was about to give up, a dark figure emerged through the mist. I knew that whoever it was couldn't have been a ghost or spirit because their colour seemed sharper, more defined. A pair of gleaming red eyes peered at me from the person's shoulder as they moved closer.

I recognised those eyes. They belonged to the polecat Gale. The polecat that had been sent by my mother and was now staring at me in an almost condescending way.

I peered closer at the figure she was sitting on and found myself almost relieved to see the face of Nico Di Angelo. His eyes didn't seem to flicker even once when the sounds of spirits desperately called out to him. I saw his hand reach out and grip onto my shoulder.

"I, son of Hades, Lord of the Dead, demand you to return to the Underworld at once," he commanded. "You no longer belong in this world."

I realised what he was doing. He was instructing the ghosts.

At first, they were reluctant to leave – after all they hadn't gotten hold of what I had summoned them for. But then the intimidating vibes radiating from the son of Hades seemed to overpower their own will. Gradually, the mist began to recede; the voices of the spirits began to fade until there was nothing left but the archery range and the shell-shocked faces of the other campers.

Nico grimaced when Gale chirped noisily from his shoulder.

Thalia and the other hunters who had been in the area rushed over to the huddled form of Jaci, getting her to stand up and helping her out of the range. The rest of the campers had either made a run for it or were staring intently at me. I didn't like the attention.

A panicked-looking Ash rushed over to me.

"Clara!" he shouted, but his voice sounded fuzzy to me. "What did you do? Are you okay? What happened?"

His hands gripped my shoulders.

Nico, on the other hand, was watching me carefully. "You're going to faint, aren't you?" he said.

All I could do was nod weakly before my body dropped to the ground.

*~PJ~*

I decided that I really hated fainting when the same dark foggy feeling from before settled itself into my mind and brain. I couldn't see or hear anything from around me, nothing but the endless void that seemed to endlessly stretch out before me. I figured that I would have to wait this one out (again) and made a pact to myself to never faint again.

It seemed to just be this way for a while but then I felt an unexpected churning in my stomach and the blackness melted into a scene.

It shifted into a brightly lit area that reminded me of a storeroom warehouse. Shelves stacked sky-high with large boxes and products wrapped in bubble-warp, all lining the room and almost touching the ceiling.

There were figures marching around the place, though they it seemed as if they were gathering around the middle of the room. My lurched when I recognised two of the _empousai_ that I had seen in my other dream, standing in the crowd. Their great grins revealing those sharp, pointed fangs. I noticed that a few cuts and bruises littered their faces.

"I'm surprised," spoke an eerie familiar voice that sent a chill running down my spine. I knew that voice. "I didn't expect you to put up much of a fight."

Circe, the minor goddess of magic, stood over a crouched figure. Her dark hair and green eyes resembled that of my own, only they were full of untamed malevolence. "If I wasn't using you as bait I think I would've offered you a spot beside me," she smirked. "Such a shame that I have to waste such a strong woman as yourself."

The head of the person looked up, revealing a face I knew all too well.

Felicity Gilley stared blankly at the goddess. She had a nasty gash on her head, tainting the long silvery blonde hair. She looked pale and sick, something I had never seen before on the face of my mother.

"Mom!" I cried, but nobody seemed to hear me.

"Circe," she replied through gritted teeth. "I see you've downgraded from that island of yours. Do tell me what happened again? Was it pirates or something?"

The goddess's lips twitched, her eyes narrowing. "I wouldn't trust your luck with me, child of Apollo," she sneered and the surrounding _empousai_ inched closer. "I may not have my island anymore but I still have a willing army to follow my every order. I know I have to keep you alive but that doesn't mean I won't let them damage you a little more if it gets you to shut your mouth."

"You do realise that she's protected," my mom responded. "She's at Camp Half-Blood. There's no way you'll be able to get the message across."

"Oh?" Circe quirked up an eyebrow, knowingly. "Is that so?"

"I knew you had something to do with those Laistrygonians showing up at our home. It was a nice try by the way, but not enough," she responded. "Clara is _safe_. Far, far away from you."

"Not for long."

My mother hesitated. "What are you talking about?"

Slowly, Circe's head moved towards where I was standing and I froze in panic. A sly smile curled itself across her lips. This was her doing. She was the one who brought me to this place. "I have your mom here. Alive and well, though I imagine that won't be for long...that's if you don't come and find me."

My mother gasped, looking around blindly. "Clara, don't listen to her. Don't even think about coming here –"

"National City, the old toy storage warehouse," Circe interrupted. "You have three days. If you're late, expect there to be consequences."

The dream faded but the screams of my mother still rung in my ears.


	11. Uno becomes tres

**11.**

_Uno becomes tres_

_and Regina turns into a parent._

Eventually, I escaped the surrounding fogginess that followed after the dream and slowly I started regaining the use of my hands. I felt them twitch and stretch out from on top of whatever I was laying on. And, ever so slowly, I cracked my eyes open so that I could look around.

I was in the infirmary at the Big House.

Neither Chiron nor any of the Apollo kids seemed to be in the room but a weight on my stomach made me look up in confusion. There was Gale, sat contently and yet glaring at me with those intimidating red eyes. I could almost sense the annoyance radiating from the polecat for being so stupid as to lose control of my powers. The silent judgement made me shift uncomfortably and Gale stuck her claws into my skin as a response.

"She's been there the whole time," spoke a voice that sounded surprisingly soft considering who it belonged to. "Wouldn't let anyone take or move her."

My eyes scanned the room again for the source and I had to restrain a gasp when I saw Jaci just a few beds down from me. Her face was pale, and that unrelenting strength I had seen earlier had apparently vanished. Was that all because of what I did? I couldn't bring myself to look into her eyes as the guilt began to claw itself inside my stomach.

"You're awake!" exclaimed Regina from the other side of the infirmary.

At least the newly arrived demigod looked better since her ordeal. The wounds that had previously littered her skin were gone and she had a newfound aura of confidence about her that had been missing from before. "You've been out for hours and they wouldn't even tell me what happened."

I sat upwards, Gale still hanging onto my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and gave her a weak smile. "I'm okay," I told her, reaching towards my red jacket that had been folded up on a chair beside my bed. "I just...ran out of energy I guess."

My hands grasped onto my shoes that were on the ground. I noticed a few blocks on the table as the same stuff my mom had given me when I passed out the first time. _Ambrosia_, I think it was called. I remembered the way it had instantly refilled me with strength and didn't hesitate in shovelling it into my mouth. The familiar taste of freshly buttered popcorn was soon prominent and I welcomed the flood of energy it brought along with it.

Although it had worked to some extent, my legs still felt shaky as I stood up. I eyed the second piece and contemplated on take it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Jaci said and I frowned. "Demigods can have ambrosia but too much of it can be pretty lethal. Turn our bones to sand and our blood to fire, that kind of thing."

I nodded and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Regina said, making me pause. "You can't leave until the Apollo kids have checked you over. That's what they said."

"I'm good, don't worry," I tried to reassure them but my wavering voice betrayed me. "I-I need to get to National City now, like right this instant. It was nice meeting you but I don't have much of a choice."

What would I take? My sword? A bow and arrows? How was I even going to get to National City in three days? It wasn't like I was old enough to buy a plane ticket and it was likely that if I told Chiron or Ash, then they wouldn't even let me go.

Jaci sat upwards, and then swung her legs over the side of her bed so she could stand up. I noticed that it took awhile for her to gather her bearings until she eventually straightened.

"What do you mean you have no choice?" she asked, stepping out into the walkway.

"She has my mom," I whimpered.

"Hecate?"

"No," I shook my head. "My adoptive mom Felicity. I had a dream that Circe was – _is_ holding my mom captive. She wants me to find them but if I don't make it there in three days she's going to kill her."

"But it's just a dream," Regina said, trying her best to comfort me. "It isn't real and who's Circe anyway?"

"Circe is the minor goddess of magic," Jaci informed her. "A daughter of Hecate like Clara. And well the dream thing is complicated...most of what we demigods dream tends to be real memories or rather actual events taking place."

"She knew I was there," I said quietly. "Just like the _empousai _did."

"The _empousai_?" Jaci sounded horrified. "You've been dreaming about those things and Circe and you never thought to tell anyone? Not even Chiron? We've encountered a few of them whilst hunting; they seemed to be a lot more active than usual since the Titan war. They serve Hecate though, your mother, why would they even think about coming after you?"

"I think she's somehow lost control of them," I told them. "Seems like they've been following Circe instead and I think my mom – the goddess Mom I mean – already knew about it."

"She told you that?"

I shook my head and gestured to the polecat. "She sent Gale to watch over me," I said. "Probably because she knew it'd be me that went after Circe. I don't know how or why Circe even chose me in the first place or what she's even planning. But now I don't know what to do, she's got my mom – I have no other choice now."

"Then we'll go with you," Regina spoke suddenly. "We'll go with you to National City to save your mom from this Circe woman."

"I don't think that's a good idea," I shook my head vehemently. "It's me she's after so it's me she's going to get. That's it."

"No," Jaci said firmly. "She's going to get all three of us."

My mouth dropped open. "I don't understand you," I said, shaking my head. "A couple of hours ago you were hating my guts and now you want to help me fight a goddess?"

"What you did to me...changed my perspectives on things."

"You're not coming. I'm going alone."

"And how to you plan on getting to National City - which is on the _other side_ of the country should I remind you – without no money or even a plane ticket? It's not as if you can just walk there since that'll take a lot more than twenty-four hours," Jaci crossed her arms. "_And_ if you try to leave without us I can just tell Chiron and the others what you're up to. Can't we, Gina?"

"Yup," the girl nodded. "Then you'll have no choice."

"'Gina'?" I gaped at them. "What are you best buds now? And what other idea do you suggest?"

The corners of the huntress's mouth twitched into a smile. "Zeus' Fist, where you found Regina. There's an entrance near there to the Labyrinth, if we navigate it right it should take us to California in no time."

"Labyrinth? What Labyrinth? Like the Minotaur Labyrinth? Won't we get eaten in there?"

"There's a few monsters and stuff but we should be fine – the hunters have used it several times to travel quickly across the country," Jaci explained. "It stretches underneath this whole world, always moving and changing. Daedalus was the name of the guy who created it. He destroyed it but then it was brought back again during the second Giant war. We can use it."

I still wasn't convinced. "How are we supposed to navigate something that's always changing? If you mess this up my mother could be killed."

Jaci's eyes narrowed like she was annoyed and I was surprisingly glad to see the display of emotion on her face. That meant I hadn't scarred her _too_ badly that her former self was gone completely. "I know what I'm doing," she told me. "I might've only been a hunter for a few months, but I've learned a fair bit. The Labyrinth is your only reasonable choice anyway – you can't exactly walk across America in three days."

She was right and of course I knew it but this Labyrinth sounded like a place I wouldn't want to particularly visit often. Or ever, if I was being honest.

"What about Regina?" I said, my shoulders slumping in defeat.

They both looked confused. "What about Regina?"

"You've only juts arrived at camp, you don't even know who your godly parent is. You haven't gone into a single training session, how are we going to keep you safe?" I replied. "I don't want to put you in danger because of my..._family_ problems."

"Jaci will keep me safe," Regina replied as if it was a matter-of-fact. "And _you_ will. You did it the last time."

"You're not going to persuade me or her otherwise," Jaci lifted an eyebrow. "Besides, three is a sacred number. There are usually three people on a quest."

"Well, technically there'd be four of us."

"How?"

I gestured down to Gale who had seemingly tightened her grip on my t-shirt during this whole conversation. "Gale used to be human but she became a servant for Hecate," I told them. "That makes her the fourth companion, right?"

Jaci suddenly looked uneasy and eyed the stubborn polecat. "Can't you leave her here?"

Gale hissed and dug her claws deeper into my skin.

"That's a no," I yelped in pain. "If I leave her here, she'll just follow me anyway. Hecate's orders to stick with me I guess, has to obey them even if it's made my life miserable these past few days. Anyway, what's wrong with four? Three's an odd number, I don't like odd numbers."

"It's just..." Jaci hesitated. "-Usually when there's more than three, it doesn't end well."

"I didn't think that this would end 'well' anyway."

"Touché."

*~PJ~*

After a little more convincing from both Jaci and Regina combined (they were quite the persuasive duo), we began to plan out who we were going to get to the Labyrinth entrance at Zeus' Fist. I still needed to get Augury and Jaci was adamant to retrieve her bow and arrows, alongside some other supplies that would help keep us alive whilst we were down there.

We also had to get a weapon for Regina since she kind of lost her dagger back when I rescued her from the myrmekes and I didn't quite fancy retrieving it from their nest.

This meant that we had to make three separate stops to the armoury, Cabin Twenty and Cabin Eight without being spotted by anyone. No pressure. Just another reason to add to my list of doubts as to why this was a terrible idea. But then again, what choice did I have?

Jaci opened the infirmary door ajar just to make sure the coast was clear before we sprinted towards the armoury. "I think everyone is at the pavilion for dinner," she told us. "There shouldn't be anyone around."

"You mean you hope there's nobody around."

She turned around and glared. "Well what do you suggest smart-mouth?"

"Oh I-don't-know, I could maybe use the Mist to hide us from view?" I retorted. "Even if there are a few stay demigods hanging around, they won't spot us then."

"Are you sure?" she replied, bitterly. "Last time you used magic, you lost control."

"Oh and there it is," I exclaimed. "I was wondering when it would show itself."

"What the Hades are you talking about?"

"You hate me," I told her. "You've always hated me from the moment we met and I admit, I made it worse with the whole spirits thing and I'm sorry but if you hadn't started hounding me then I wouldn't have lost control in the first place!"

"Oh, so now it's _my _fault?"

"You know it is," I snapped. "That's why you're helping. Not out of kindness but because you feel guilty because you know you were in the wrong."

Jaci looked like she was about to argue when Regina stepped in between us with a firm expression painted across her face.

"Would you two just shut-up and stop wasting time," she chided us and for a moment, both of us were taken aback. I had always pictured the girl as the shy type but now that she had gotten a little more comfortable, her personality was starting to show. "Clara, do that Mist thing you were talking about and let's go before they come back. _Now_."

And then she stormed out of the infirmary.

Me and Jaci stared at each other.

"You started it, moron," she mumbled and followed Regina out the door.

"I'm not the moron," I hissed from behind her, trying to keep my voice low so that Regina wouldn't overhear our continued bickering. "If anyone is a moron, then it's you."

The huntress scoffed.

We reached the front entrance of the Big House and Regina turned to look at me, her hands on her hips gave her an aura of authority that left me and Jaci meekly staring at the floor. "Do the Mist thing," she instructed firmly. "Then we run to the armoury."

I had to restrain myself from saying 'yes miss' in reply.

Despite the energy I had lost from _accidentally_ summoning a hoard of spirits (emphasis on accidentally), I still found myself just about managing to command the Mist to conceal the three of us from view. Well four if you were counting Gale who had now moved to her favourite perch on my shoulder.

I watched as Jaci and Regina blinked out of existence and then blindly reached out until I had a hold of both their shoulders. "Okay, now we walk."

"No," Jaci countered. "Now we _run_."

"Shut up, you know what I meant."

I felt a foot stamp on my own and I bit my tongue to stop myself from yelping. I could practically sense the sly smirk on Jaci's face as we began to run.

We quickly passed the forces that were (as Jaci predicted) empty since most of the campers had headed towards the pavilion for dinner. And in no time at all we reached the armoury. It was a large metal shed slotted just to the side of the Athena Cabin so I took extra care in making sure the Mist kept up its concealment until we were safely inside.

The place was full to the brim with swords, clubs, spears and...shotguns. I took that as the norm. Why not have shotguns at a summer camp for demigods?

Regina looked around for a few seconds before heading to a dory that was leaning against the far wall of the shed. And when I mean dory, I don't mean that _Dory _from _Finding Nemo_. This dory was a lot more deadly. A spear that had two pointed ends, one slightly bigger than the other. I had seen an Ares kid fight with it during a combat lesson and it made me glad I hadn't been their fighting partner.

She grinned at us as she twirled it around in her hand. The sight made me slightly unsettled. I was worried that she might accidentally poke her eye out with it or something.

After Regina assured us that was what she wanted, we decided to split up in order to save time. I would head to the Hecate Cabin to retrieve Augury while Jaci went over to the Artemis Cabin. Regina decided to stay with me and she gasped at the sight of my cabin. I felt slightly proud that she was amazed by it and then the horrid feeling that I could possibly never see it again soon swiftly replaced it.

I told Regina to stay outside whilst I went to grab Augury from where I had left it and packed my backpack. I know I could've just chosen another weapon from the armoury like Regina had, but for some reason I almost couldn't bear the thought of not having it with me.

It was a comfort to have it sheathed at my side and I brushed my fingers against the handle.

Even though I have to be the most useless owner it's ever had, I got the feeling that it didn't mind. But that's the most absurd thing I've ever thought. My sword wasn't alive, it didn't breathe or talk or do anything other than what I make it do.

Then again, in a world like is this, anything is pretty much possible. Isn't it?

I shook my head, swung my bag onto my back and rushed out of the Hecate Cabin to where Regina and Jaci were waiting. Jaci had her bow and quiver strapped to her back; I could see a dagger tucked into a sheath by her waist. The silver circlet, the symbol of Artemis I had seen her wearing before during capture the flag was back on her head.

"You took your time," she said. Surprisingly I didn't detect any irritation in her tone this time. She seemed shaky, like something happened when she went into Cabin Eight. "We should hurry."

I nodded. As tempting as it was to ask the huntress what was wrong, I didn't think she'd appreciate the sentiment. Without a second thought, we headed towards the woods.


	12. We begin our journey

**12.**

_We begin our journey_

_and I subsequently take a plunge._

Returning to those woods during the daytime didn't at all seem to improve the feeling of eeriness that lingered around it. The trees gave me the creeps as we passed them by and I had the strange sense that they were somehow watching us. Even the slightest whistle of the wind or the simplest rustle of the undergrowth sent my heart hammering in my chest. The distant chatter of the other campers from the pavilion was the only comforting noise.

Regina had it a lot worse.

I forgot that the last time she had been here; she had almost been overrun by giant ants intending to take her into their nest. I glanced at her and I could see her eyes darting all around us. Her hand gripped the spear tightly, like she was preparing to use it if something went awry.

As we followed Jaci through the woods, I put a hand on her shoulder and gave a smile that I hoped look reassuring. I guess it worked because I eventually felt her relax.

"How much further is the entrance?" she asked Jaci and I lowered my hand once I knew she was okay again.

Well, as okay as you could be in woodland such as this. It felt even creepier than before when it had been night time, but that didn't make a lot of sense. It was almost as if the rays of the moon had given _me _reassurance, had made me feel secure in a place that was plagued with monsters such as the myrmekes.

Now that it was gone, however, that sense of security had gone with it.

"Not far," Jaci informed us, her lips tugged into a frown. "It's just by Zeus' Fist, between two boulders so it's difficult to spot at first."

"Wait a minute," I said. "How do you know about it?"

The daughter of Nike rolled her eyes. "Because I stayed at this camp before I became a Hunter," she replied. "Everyone knows about it now, it's even used for the Three-Legged Death Race."

"Sounds fun," I shook my head. "Let me guess, you won every time?"

"I can't help it," she said bitterly. "It's just in my blood. Nike is the goddess of victory, remember. I have to win everything. That's my nature."

"What happens if you lose?" Regina asked.

"I don't lose." Jaci replied darkly and I suddenly felt uneasy.

What lengths would this girl go to just to win something? She hadn't gone to help Regina when it was needed during capture the flag and she was even prepared to injure me just to win.

We remained silent until Jaci held out her arm to stop us. She then gestured to a narrow gap between two rocks near Zeus' Fist. "It's a tight squeeze," she told us, though I had already figured that out just by looking at it. "I'll go first, then you two follow behind. Remember we have to stick close together or we'll end up losing each other."

And with that note of confidence, Jaci disappeared into the gap.

I gestured for Regina to go in front of me. She grabbed my hand and then tugged me behind her until we both dropped onto a cold, bumpy floor. Gale let out an alarmed screech from my shoulder as I barely managed to keep myself upright. From up above, the entrance sealed shut.

I blindly rummaged through my pockets until my hand grasped around a miniature flashlight and with a soft click it had lit up the place around us.

On either side of where we stood, tall mossy walls seemed to box us in if it wasn't for the endless corridor that looked like it stretched for miles in both directions. Jaci took out her own flashlight and moved it around the walls. It was the same on either side, save for the faint Δ symbol engraved on one side. She pointed towards it. "That's how we get back to the camp. Remember that symbol."

_That's if we make it back to camp, _I thought morbidly to myself and then shook it off.

It was then I realised that I was still holding Regina's hand. The girl herself hadn't noticed, too invested in staring at the high rise walls around us. "What way do we go now? Please tell me you do actually know where you're going," I said.

"Of course I do," Jaci sounded offended. "Just keep close to me."

She began heading right down the corridor and I felt my hand slip from Regina's as well followed her. All around me I could hear some sort of groaning sound or at least the noise of something moving. It came from every direction and no matter how far we moved, it just kept on going. I didn't like it, it unsettled me.

Regina asked the question before I did. "What's that noise? It's creeping me out."

Jaci glanced behind her at us. "That's the sound of the Labyrinth moving. It's shifting constantly, that's why it's always been difficult to navigate."

I shivered. "Who in their right mind would want to bring back a place like this?"

"That would be Pasiphaë, an immortal sorceress. She's the mother of the Minotaur and Circe's sister...on the paternal side of course," she quickly added. "She's not another daughter of Hecate."

"Oh thank the gods."

"But this is her domain now," Jaci said grimly. "So that's something else to watch out for."

"Fantastic."

We continued through the maze, taking several twists and turns in which I hope was leading us towards the direction of National City. I don't know how long we had been walking for until the once narrow passageway opened up into a brightly lit room. The sight made Jaci pause like she hadn't expected this to happen.

Regina blinked to the sudden brightness. "Where are we?"

When my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I looked around. It seemed to be a small, square-shaped room made entirely out of gleaming marble. Dotted around the edges of the room there seemed to be several Greek statues in various poses. Their blank eyes all turned to face the middle of the room where we stood.

"Um," Jaci said, sounding worryingly confused. "I'm not sure...I didn't think we would come across something like this."

"What are those statues? They all look like different people."

"I think they're all minor gods and goddesses," Jaci guessed and then pointed to one of the statues in the corner. "You can tell by certain symbols. I'm pretty sure that one's my mother."

The statue depicted a young woman wearing a long dress that flowed elegantly over her body. She held up what looked to be a wreath and a pair of large, feathered-covered angel wings seemed to protrude outwards from her back. Another wreath sat on-top of the woman's head like a crown.

"Is that what she really looks like?" I asked curiously.

Jaci shrugged. "No idea. Never met her."

"What about that one?" I pointed to the one next to Nike.

Jaci narrowed her eyes at it and then she gave a small smile. "That would be your mother."

The Hecate statue looked to be in the same pose as Nike, except instead of a wreath she held a long torch that stretched towards the ceiling. In the other hand she clutched a dagger. She wore a similar dress too but a cloak was draped over the goddess' head and nearly reached the floor. On either side of her, two dogs seemed to shyly peek out from behind her legs and a creature that looked very similar to Gale was sat up straight on her shoulder.

I turned and looked at where Gale currently sat on my own shoulder. "Is that true?" I asked. "Is that really Hecate, Gale?"

Gale stared at the statue for awhile and then chirped in what I took as a confirmation.

"This place seems pretty weird," Regina commented and I knew what she meant. "I know I don't know much about this world but why would this be here in a Labyrinth?"

"I don't know," Jaci said, biting her lip. "Could be newly formed. It happens."

"Why just minor gods I wonder. Why not the Olympians as well?"

Jaci seemed to have no reasonable explanation but we had no time to think about it because an older woman walked in from the other side of the room.

The lady looked surprisingly optimistic despite the fact she was in a death trap like the Labyrinth. She wore a simple white blouse and an ordinary pair of beige khaki trousers. On her head was a cap with the words _'World's Best Tour Guide' _stitched in red at the top. Her black hair that had strands of grey was tied up into a simple ponytail. When she looked at us, her eyes were an odd onyx colour and were so dark you could hardly see her pupils.

She beamed at us and held out her arms like she was about to initiate a group hug.

"Greetings travellers," she exclaimed. "I shall be your tour guide for this evening. But don't you worry, its totes free of charge."

"What?" Jaci knitted her brows. "The Labyrinth doesn't have tour guides."

"It does now," the woman explained in that same cheery voice. "Due to the _extraordinary _amount of deaths that have occurred within the Labyrinth's complex premises, it was decided that a tour guide _must _accompany every person who walks within these walls in order to prevent anymore...well, unfortunate incidents. We do hope you understand."

"I came in here not long ago with the Hunters of Artemis," Jaci replied. "We didn't have a 'tour guide' come looking for us then."

"It's a newly passed rule I'm afraid," the woman waved dismissively before Jaci could ask any more questions about the matter. "I'm just here to take you where you seek. So chop-chop, on we go. You can go ahead first, young lady."

She shuffled me into the corridor she had just walked out of and I could hear Jaci and Regina's footsteps echo behind ours. As we walked, my instincts were screaming at me to run and yet I didn't know why. The woman seemed harmless and surely Jaci would've made a move if she suspected something malevolent so I decided to go along and see what would happen.

All throughout the walk, the woman seemed to comment on everything.

"On this side we have some magnificently crafted walls and on the other side we have...well some more walls," she said. "I must say, although the Labyrinth doesn't have many exciting aspects, it is quite thrilling isn't it? Not knowing where you're going to end up."

"It's scary," I heard Regina say. "You could get lost in here forever."

The woman's eyes gleamed. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"I thought your job was to take us to where we want to go," Jaci finally spoke after a while and I noticed her tone seemed slightly on edge now. "You should know where you're going."

"Oh I definitely know where you're going," she chirped. "Just be patient now, children. We're almost there."

I prayed this chick was genuine but knowing our luck, that probably wasn't the case. Our tour guide told me to take a left and then another right. We headed down I think what had to be the longest corridor we've encountered yet and after a few minutes of further silence, the woman spoke up again.

"You see I am such a great tour guide, you don't even need to tell me where you're going. I just know," she told us. "I think that's why they hired me, you know? And they gave me this super cute hat just to prove it."

"That's nice..." I drifted off. "Wait, what's this?"

We stepped onto the edges of a huge cavern but instead of where the floor should be, a gigantic hole took up most of the space. I glanced down and no matter how hard I tried, there appeared to be no bottom at all. Just an endless dark abyss that I wouldn't want to fall down.

"And finally," the woman sighed. "You've reached _your _destination, Clara Gilley. It was certainly a pleasure being of your assistance, daughter of Hecate. I'll make sure to give her my regards."

_Uh oh, _I thought.

I heard Jaci shout out a warning but it was too late. Two hands pushed themselves against my back and I screamed as I was sent toppling off the ledge and into the limitless void below.

*~PJ~*

Now, is it just me or do we Half-Bloods just seem to have the worst luck in the world?

This is of course doesn't apply to the children of Tyche, the goddess of luck. I'd imagine life would be a lot easier for them. Come to think of it, why couldn't she have been my godly parent? Luck was something I _really_ needed. Like right now. Please and thank-you.

It was only when I apparently dropped down a few metres that my reflexes kick-started into gear. My right hand shot out and grasped onto a small hold in the rock whilst my left hand desperately reached down and wrapped itself around Gale's belly who had been a mere ten seconds away from being out of reach. The polecat squirmed and squealed as my own body slammed against the rough wall of the cavern.

Below me, the vast emptiness got a whole lot scarier. A breeze seemed to waft upwards from wherever the bottom was and I felt that whatever was down there, they weren't friendly to demigods.

I put Gale back on my shoulder so I could use both my hands to hold onto the little ledge that was literally the only thing keeping us from plummeting to certain death. "Hold on Gale," I mumbled to the polecat, trying to keep calm. "Don't squirm too much."

Above me I could hear the sounds of a scuffle, followed by an unnatural screeching sound that sent goosebumps rushing all over my body. There were shouts and screams coming from Jaci and Regina that seemed to fade until there was nothing but silence remaining.

Then a face appeared over the edge and stared down at me.

The face didn't belong to either Jaci or Regina like I hoped but rather the tour guide who had pushed me off the edge in the first place. Her cap had seemingly come off during the scuffle with my companions and even from down here I could see her eyes twinkle with mischief. My heart lurched and my palms started to sweat, making my grip on the ledge loosen. It was like something straight out of a nightmare.

"Oh Clara," the tour guide shook her head like she was disappointed I hadn't fell to my death like she had planned. "You had to make things difficult, didn't you?"

"Oh come on," I whimpered. "What did I do to you?"

The woman let out a harsh bellow or laughter. "You've done nothing to me my dear, I can assure you of that," she said. "But what my master wants, my master shall have and that's of course your death. No hard feelings. But do make it easy on yourself girl and just let go. Don't worry, if the fall doesn't kill you then the monsters surely will."

"No," I shouted and my voice wobbled. "I'm not letting go ugly, you're just going to have to come and get me."

She sighed. "So stubborn, as is the way with most of Hecate's spawn but very well..."

I watched as the nails on her fingers grew longer and begin to curl. Her onyx eyes began to glow terrifyingly just as her teeth sharpened and protruded until they were rows and rows of jagged fangs. The tour guide's body twitched as a pair of leathery wings tore themselves out of her back, the texture of them reminding me of a bat (except I imagine bats were a lot cuter).

The same, hair raising screech escaped from the creature's mouth and when she spoke, it resembled something like chalk scraping down a blackboard. "Any last words, demigod?"

"Yeah," I snapped. "Remind me to give you a bad review on _TripAdvisor_ when I'm done with you."

She growled, her wings extending as she prepared to plunge. "So be it, Hecate spawn."


	13. I meet a dead guy

**13.**

_I meet a dead guy_

_and a Fury gives me a piggyback._

Now I know antagonising a terrifying creature sent to kill you is bad, believe me, I've dealt with Charlotte Novak. But I couldn't help but at least try and have the last laugh before my tour guide pushed me to my untimely death.

That was it. I was going to die and we hadn't even completed our quest yet. That had to be a record.

Gale squealed hysterically on my shoulder whilst all my brain could do was focus on those large fangs that jutted out of the creature's mouth. How her eyes gleamed with excitement at the prospect of killing me like I was some kind of prey that she couldn't wait to devour. "N-now hold on a minute," I stuttered, trying to keep my voice from wobbling. "Can't we talk about this? I don't even know what I've done."

The bat lady paused and licked her lips. "Your existence is the crime, demigod."

"Well," I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't exactly narrow it down, now does it? I want a proper reason; I should have the right to know why I need to die. You owe me that at least."

"I owe you nothing," she hissed, her eyes glowed angrily and then dimmed. Her expression turned thoughtful, something that seemed so unusual on such a monstrous face. "But very well. Your mother has angered my master. He put trust in her yet she has betrayed him, now you are the one to face the consequences."

"That seems kind of unfair," I frowned.

"Life is unfair _girl_," she retorted. "That is always the way with demigods. You should know this by now."

A thought occurred to me. Maybe if I could keep this chick talking I could buy myself some time and figure out a plan to escape, though from here things looked pretty dim. How was I meant to escape? I couldn't fly, and the only thing that was stopping me from falling was a tiny ledge. I was screwed but I was also pretty desperate.

"Alright then," I continued, swallowing a lump in my throat. "What did my mother do to tick off your master? And who even is your master anyway? Why couldn't he have come and killed me himself instead of his little minions? Or is he too cowardly for that?"

I guess I touched a nerve because the creature bared her teeth. "Do not dare to insult Lord Hades, or I shall make your death as painful as possible."

"Hold up a sec. _Hades_? As in King of the Underworld, that Hades? I thought he was friends with Hecate?"

The woman grunted with displeasure. "My Lord merely accepted Hecate's presence when Demeter offered her the role of Queen Persephone's servant. He reluctantly allowed her to practise her magic and serve his wife providing she abided by his rules but they are by no means _friends_, as you put it. He fears Hecate's powers, so he used it as an excuse to keep an eye on her. And then she went and created you."

"Me? What's so special about me? I can't even a hold a sword properly lady, how am I a threat?"

"Don't play coy, child. You know what I'm talking about. That power you have, the one that is so very rare amongst the spawn of Hecate. The one that Hades fears so much he cannot even be swayed by the words of his beloved Persephone. His order must be followed through, no matter what."

"Okay, so what, I can summon the dead. I still don't understand how that warrants my death."

"The dead isn't _your_ territory to control. It belongs only to Hades and his children," she growled. "Hecate has crossed a boundary that cannot be forgiven. Now the payment for her crime is your death. Goodbye daughter of magic."

My heart hammered in my chest, I'd run out of time. I watched as she began to crawl down the wall towards me like some kind of hideous spider. She was only a few metres away from me, and Gale was screeching now more than ever. But I was frozen.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the killing blow. It never came.

Instead, a screech that almost made me release my grip on the ledge echoed around the cavern. It seemed to shake the walls around me, almost like an earthquake.

My eyes snapped open in alarm and I noticed a pale, silver arrow impaled straight through the creature's shoulder. Golden ichor dripped from the wound and almost onto my face had I not flinched out of the way. I watched as the drops fell into the darkness below.

"I am not finished with you yet, Megaera," shouted out a voice from above that I couldn't believe I was so glad to hear. "Come and finish what you started."

The bat lady apparently named Megaera, soared upwards away from me and to where Jaci was awaiting. "I gave you a chance to run, little huntress, but now you leave me no choice. You will be the first to die!"

The sounds of a battle resounded overhead. Jaci had bought me time.

And now I needed to use it.

But what the heck could I do? I was completely stuck. There was no way I could climb back up the cavern and I didn't particularly want to fall down either. Gale wasn't exactly helping. She kept snarling and farting and I got the feeling that she was calling me all the meanest names she could think of.

I shook my head in frustration. "Come on Clara, think. _Think_!"

"_Pssst_."

I paused my rant.

I turned my eyes to the side and looked at Gale, but she just seemed as confused as I was. What the heck was that? Where did it even come from?

It came again. "_Psssssst_," said a seemingly disembodied voice. "Turn around stupid."

I twisted my head around as far as it could go and was greatly surprised when a handsome, long haired African-American boy that seemed only a few years older than me, was sitting down in a small alcove in the wall. His legs were swinging back and forth over the edge, grinning amusedly at me. I noticed he was wearing a Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans, but they were torn as if something had raked its claws across it.

But something was off.

Although I could see him, I somehow knew he wasn't really here.

Every time he moved his legs, his image flickered with familiar curls of mist. I recognised it from when I summoned my father. That meant one thing. This boy was dead.

I gaped at him. "What –"

He smiled at me. "How's it hanging?"

"What are you doing here?" I said (ignoring the obvious pun) confusedly. "I didn't summon you. I don't even know who you are."

"Of course you know me Clara but now is not the time for introductions," he pointed upwards to where Jaci was battling the bat lady. "You need to come up with a plan or else your butt is doomed, my friend. This alcove should give you some cover for a while."

I realised that the ghost boy was right and I chided myself for not looking around sooner. I narrowed my eyes in determination. "Gale, get into my backpack – you're going to need to hold on."

The polecat didn't have to be asked twice. She scrambled from my shoulder and squeezed through the small gap in the zip.

Once I was sure she wasn't going to fall out, I placed both my feet against the wall and prayed to whoever would listen that I wasn't about to jump to my death. The boy in the alcove moved out of the way as I launched towards it, my limbs flailing as I flew across. "Oh snap –"

I slammed into the wall. It wasn't my finest moment, I'll admit.

But my hands had managed to grab onto the alcove edge and with all my strength, I pushed myself upwards and onto the surface. I collapsed into a heap; my arm muscles were screaming bloody murder and I couldn't believe I was actually alive.

"Now what?" I gasped for breath.

A face appeared above me, a smirk stretched across his face. "I don't know," he shrugged. "Use that lovely noggin of yours. I'm sure you'll be able to think of something."

"You're not being very helpful."

"Clara, I'm only here to stop you from falling to your death which I'm sure Felicity wouldn't want. Now that I've done that, you're on your own," he glanced upwards when another screech echoed around the cavern, I noticed he now looked uneasy. "You have to think of something, your friend can only distract the Fury for so long I'm afraid."

This made me sit up. "You know my mom? What's a Fury?"

His mouth twitched like he was tempted to tell me, but then a shout from Jaci caused him to frantically shake his head. "Focus Clara," he said firmly. "Answers later."

"Alright, alright – I'll try," I looked around the cavern, for something I could climb up with but to my dismay I found nothing. There was simply no way I could get back to the top without slipping and falling. "I-I don't know what to do. I'm stuck."

The boy rolled his eyes. "You're the daughter of Hecate," he said. "Can't you use a little magic?"

I went to tell him no but then a completely insane of an idea entered my head. And when I mean insane, it was practically suicidal but at this point – what choice did I have? "I've got it," I said, a little shakily. "I know a way I could get to the top but it's really dangerous and stupid and –"

A chilling scream interrupted me. Only this time it didn't belong to the Fury.

"Don't think about it," said the boy quickly. "Just do it."

I nodded, and closed my eyes.

I tried to remember what Hazel taught me about the Mist and how she tricked me into thinking Gale was a lion. I needed the Mist to trick the Fury and I needed it now. I remembered myself dangling from that tiny ledge for dear life. The fear of falling was overwhelming, the panicked expression that was likely to have been painted across my face. I pictured everything clearly and willed the Mist to create it.

_Please, please work_, I thought.

"Don't kill me!" shouted my voice, only it didn't come from me. "I don't want to die!"

My eyes snapped open and I grinned as I spotted myself dangling from the ledge I'd been holding onto before. A Mist version of Gale was even squealing wildly on the fake me's shoulder. It looked so realistic and I felt ecstatic. Even the boy seemed surprised as he peered over my shoulder. "Impressive," he blinked. "But how will that get you to the top?"

"Wait and see," I said as the nerves began to bubble up in my stomach.

Up above, everything had gone seemingly silent. Jaci didn't appear to be fighting anymore and the Fury wasn't screeching. I didn't want to risk looking upwards in case Megaera spotted me. I just had to wait and wait and wait until –

"Well," spoke Megaera's grating voice. "So it looks as if your friend's attempts at distracting me were in vain. For a supposed powerful demigod, you've been a pretty easy target to destroy."

"Please don't kill me! I don't want to die!" Mist Me screamed.

"Your time is up, child, which is the way it has to be."

A silhouette was gradually flying lower and lower towards the other me, and I tucked myself deeper into the shadows of the alcove as the Fury passed by me. My hand wrapped around the hilt of Augury and I tugged it from its sheath. The boy stared fondly at it, like he was revisiting a distant memory.

"I don't want to die!" my doppelganger repeated. "Please don't kill me!"

"Shut up," Megaera hissed. "Stop saying that. It's better if you accept your death, girl. It is imminent."

"I don't want to die!"

I'm guessing Mist Me didn't have much else in her vocabulary but I didn't care. I just needed it to distract the creature until I was ready.

However, the Fury seemed to become suspicious. "No matter how many times you say it, it's not going to make me want to kill you any less," she was level with Mist Me now, eying up the terrified expression on its face. "When Lord Hades wants someone dead, he expects us to follow through with it. I cannot let my Lord down. It is the way it has to be. Enjoy the Underworld, young one."

She let out a hair-raising shriek and swiped her claws through the body of Mist Me, but instead of falling, my illusion faded into Mist. For a moment, she seemed confused. "What...what foolish trickery is this? Where are you demigod?"

"Right here," I said and leapt towards her.

*~PJ~*

This was a really, really terrible idea but quite frankly, I didn't care. There was no way I was going to die without a fight, even if I was bad at it.

My arms wrapped themselves around the neck of the Fury, my sword glinting dangerously in the little light the cavern had to offer. She jerked and jolted around, trying to throw me off but I held on as tight as I could even as my legs were sent flying all over the place. "You think you will win this, Hecate spawn?" Megaera howled at me. "You are wrong!"

I pushed Augury's blade closer to her throat and just for a moment, she paused. "If you don't bring me back up to the surface," I growled. "Then I'll cut your head off."

"You wouldn't dare," the creature's voice sounded wary. "That would kill us both."

"So what," I snapped. "I will accept my death just like you told me. But will you do the same thing? Or do you fear it just as much as anyone else? I would choose now before my sword gets any closer to that throat of yours, bat lady."

Megaera barked angrily but gradually began to rise.

"You have made a mistake Clara Gilley," she told me. "And I will personally make sure your punishment in the Underworld is tortuous."

"Thanks for the heads up ugly but your threats don't scare me."

But they did scare me. I just hoped the Fury couldn't sense how truly petrified I was. And this was all because of my mother. This creature had been ordered to kill me because Hecate had decided to gift me a power I had barely any control over. Thanks again Mom.

We reached the top and I saw the boy from the alcove leaning over Jaci's sprawled body and up against the wall, I spotted Regina. She was slumped forwards and I begged for them not to be dead. "What did you do?" I demanded. "You didn't need to harm them. I was the one you were after."

"I would've left them alone had they not attacked me," Megaera snapped. "This is their own doing."

"I should kill you this second."

The lady chuckled. "You don't have it in you, little one, but I can kill _you_."

She threw me over her shoulder before I had the chance to stop her.


	14. Dead guy reveals himself

**14.**

_Ghost boy reveals himself_

_and Megaera meets her mega end._

I landed with a crash on the surface of the cavern, and I winced in pain. Hey, at least I wasn't going to fall to my death now. That was a definite plus.

Unfortunately, however, I lost grip of my sword and it went scattering across the stone just as the Fury came sweeping towards me. I rolled out of the way, just managing to avoid the creature's claws as they swiped at me and ending up just a few centimetres away from where Jaci was sprawled out on the ground. A wave of relief rushed over me as I noticed the telltale sign of her stomach moving up and down.

But the ghost boy looked grim. "She'll need nectar," and then he glanced at Regina. "Both of them."

"I don't have time!" I exclaimed. "Tell me what to do!"

Almost as if to prove my point, Megaera let out another screech as she began to circle back around the cavern again. She reminded me of a vulture, eagerly inspecting her prey. Those beady eyes were fixated on where I was sat, her mouth stretched into an amused smirk.

"You don't seem to have anymore tricks up your sleeve, little demigod," the Fury laughed. "Now is the time to accept your fate."

She dived towards me.

I grabbed the nearest weapon I could find, Jaci's dagger and struck upwards like I'd seen the huntress do once before. It obviously wasn't enough to kill her, but it opened a nasty gash underneath the creature's chin and she rushed away with a pained hiss. Then my eyes focused on the silver bow and arrows that were next to where the dagger had been. I grabbed them and quickly adjusted an arrow whilst the ghost boy watched silently beside me.

Megaera was now perched on ledge several metres up, on the other side of the cavern. More golden ichor dripped from the new wound I had made on her chin. She looked even more murderous then before but with the bow grasped in my hand, I felt somehow secure.

Out of all the weapons, the bow was the one I was best at.

"You're a fool," she snarled.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Someone's sounding like a sore loser, to me. I just wish I could see your master's face when he realises that you failed to kill me."

"Taunting me is unwise girl," Megaera hissed. "I will kill you and it will be _painful_."

"If you say so."

She howled and soared towards me.

I desperately began nocking each of the silver arrows in the general direction of the Fury, hoping that at least one of them would hit its target. Most of them missed completely, bouncing off of the cavern and plunging into the darkness. But then one of them, one lucky one, shot straight through the creature's wing and left a nasty, gaping hole in the leathery skin.

Megaera spiralled off balance and slammed into a hanging stalagmite before toppling down towards where I was currently stood, landing in a crumpled heap.

This time she seemed to sense defeat and stared up at me from the floor. "Hades will have his way eventually Clara Gilley," she growled at me. "Whether it'll be done by me or my sisters or someone else. You will die young and you will never reach adulthood."

I hesitated. "Quit trying to scare me, it won't work."

She grinned at me. "It is your fate, girl. You can't escape your fate."

"Yeah, well, I can certainly try," I put my shoe on her shoulder and pushed forwards. "This is for hurting my friends, bat lady."

I watched as she fell down the hole and to wherever it led.

*~PJ~*

Every part of my body seemed to ache as I dropped Jaci's bow.

My hands were covered with blisters and cuts, my muscles were so painful that I felt like I just finished lifting weights at the gym. If this was what being a demigod entitled, I'd rather be mortal thanks. However, I doubt it'll ever be that easy. Not anymore at least. Not now that I had _two_ gods wanting to kill me. And all simply because I existed.

"Clara," said Ghost Boy, bringing me back from my reverie. "Your friends..."

That got my attention back.

I swung my backpack over my shoulder and hurriedly tore it open. Gale popped out and gave me a look that seemed like she was surprised to see me alive but I ignored her. I peered through all the equipment I packed until I found the emergency nectar. This, Jaci had told me, would help heal any wounds suffered to demigods like ambrosia.

I moved over to Regina first. As gently as I could, I brushed some of her hair away from her face, tilted her head back and poured the nectar into her mouth.

As soon as I was sure that the nectar was doing its job, I rushed over to Jaci and did the same. And, while I waited for my companions to heal, I turned and looked at the boy who had helped me escape the Fury's clutches. "Alright then, now that I'm not potentially going to die" I said. "What's your name? What are you doing here instead of the Underworld? I never summoned you."

He gave me a smile; brushing a strand of hair away from his face. "You know who I am."

"No I don't," I threw my hands in the air. "I've never met you in my life. I've never even seen a photograph of you and then you just show up randomly –"

"You have something that once belonged to me," he interrupted. "The one that Felicity gave you."

I thought for a moment. "You mean Augury? You were its last owner?"

Scrambling from the floor, I grabbed onto the sword that I had almost lost during the fight. My eyes found themselves look over at the _B.R.H_ etched into the hilt at the very bottom. I remembered both my mom and Chiron mentioning a boy called Billy who'd been killed. The pieces clicked into place and when I looked back up at him, he had a knowing smile on his face.

"You're Billy, aren't you? The friend of my mom's who was killed."

He did a dramatic bow. "In the flesh...well technically spirit. Billy-Rubin Hawk is the full name. The ridiculously handsome son of Hermes," Billy tilted his head to the side. "I see you've picked up on a lot of your mom's talents. She is amazing with archery."

"B-But I don't understand," I gaped. "Why are you here?"

"To save your butt from death obviously _and_ because part of my soul is kinda attached to Augury. Long story really," he explained. "Nobody but you seems to be able to see me. I think that's the Hecate thing."

I stared at the blade in my hand; suddenly it seemed to get a lot more eerie.

"Um," I said dumbly. "Well thanks for the help, I guess."

"No problemo my friend. Anything to help Felicity."

For some reason, the way he said my mother's name, told me that there had been a lot more between the pair then just a simple friendship but I was way too awkward to point it out. Maybe when I get Mom back from Circe, I'll question her on it.

I sheathed Augury and straightened.

Billy sighed. "Your friends are waking now," he winked. "Just remember, I'll be here when you need me."

And then he vanished. I continued to stare at the spot where he had just been, trying to wrap my head around what he had told me. He was _the_ Billy. The Billy that Mom had choked up about when mentioning him. The one that Chiron had been so sad about. And part of his soul was, for some unknown reason, attached to my sword.

Okay, that was a bit freaky. No, scratch that. It was insane.

But then again, insane things now seemed like the norm to me.

Suddenly, I was almost knocked off balance when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me so tightly that it felt like I was being crushed to death. For a scary moment, I thought Megaera had returned to drag me down into the abyss but then a familiar voice cured my worry.

"I thought she pushed you off that cliff," explained a remarkably recovered Regina. "I thought you were dead! I was so worried!"

I found myself awkwardly patting the girl's back. "I'm fine," I smiled. "I can't be killed that easily."

"You're telling me," groaned Jaci as she sat up from the floor, rubbing the back of her head. She was staring at me like she'd seen a ghost which is kind of an ironic phrase considering an _actual_ ghost had been standing only a few metres away from her. "H-how did you not end up in Tartarus?"

"Tartar – what now?" I wheezed. Regina still hadn't let go.

Jaci rolled her eyes. Good to see she was still her sarcastic self. "_Tartarus_," she corrected. "And it's the darkest part of the Underworld. That's where the gods imprison their enemies. It's where all the monsters go when they're killed to reform."

I gulped. I didn't particularly want to take a trip down there. It didn't sound like my kind of vacation.

"I guess luck was on my side," I shrugged. "You managed to buy me some time. Thanks for that."

Jaci grumbled something in reply and then began collecting the weapons that I had used to somehow defeat Megaera. She would scowl at me whenever she picked up a damaged arrow or when she found a dent in her dagger's blade. Regina had reluctantly released me and picked up the dory she had got from camp. Her eyes were red and puffy, like she had been crying. Did she really care for me that much? The girl hadn't known me for long.

Once the pair had collected their belongings, Jaci turned and gave me a pointed look. "Why the Hades was there a Fury after you anyway?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Hecate angered Hades so naturally he decided to target me as revenge."

"Fantastic," she said. "Couldn't have told that to us before we went into the Labyrinth?"

"Hold on a minute," I countered. "I had no idea Hades wanted me dead. And it was your idea to go through here in the first place. If this is anyone's fault, it's yours. You told me you were going to keep Regina safe and then she ended up almost dying. And so did I."

"Because usually the Labyrinth is safe," Jaci retorted. "That was the first problem I've ever faced since I started using it. And I did try and protect Regina, but as soon as Megaera pushed you, she went full meltdown. She attacked before I could even stop her. Don't you dare blame that on me."

I glanced over at Regina but she wouldn't meet my gaze. Instead she was staring meekly at the floor. I wanted to say something but I didn't really know what. What really was there to say? So, after taking a deep breath, I said, "There's no point arguing over it now – Megaera is gone so there's no more need to worry. I just want to get to National City and save my mom. The reason we came in here in the first place."

Jaci raised her eyebrows as if she had expected me to argue with her. And then she nodded, face returning to its neutral expression. "The only thing is," she said, looking around the cavern. "That Fury completely knocked us off course."

"What do you mean?" I asked, though I had a horrible feeling I already knew.

She gestured around us. "I literally have no idea where we even are now. We could be on the other side of the world for all I know, getting to National City is going to take even longer then I planned."

A knot of panic began to tighten in my stomach. "But you can get me there, right? Jaci – I have to be there. Circe will kill my mother if I'm not –"

"I know that," she said firmly. "And I'm pretty sure I can work my way through it. I just got to figure out what direction we're facing."

"Well, I'm all out of compasses."

"Just shut-up for the time being and let me take the lead this time," she snapped and then started storming towards the cavern exit. "And keep close behind me. If we end up losing each other there will be no hope."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes ma'am."

Gesturing for Regina to hurry up, we followed Jaci into the exit the Fury had taken us through before. Immediately, since being back in the tunnels could I hear the familiar groaning sounds of the Labyrinth shifting and shaping around us. Most of the walls I had seen before weren't the same. The material was different from the last time, each of them were different lengths and all of them having multiple more exits and entrances.

The feeling of panic that had begun in my stomach was beginning to get more noticeable. Could Jaci really figure her way out of this? It seemed unlikely. But when I glanced upon her face, she had a look of determination that always made me second guess.

I fell back a little to where Regina had been walking slowly behind us.

"Are you alright?" I asked, curiously.

She had been suspiciously quiet since Jaci mentioned her attacking Megaera and she wouldn't meet my eyes anymore. Now, I'm not a mind reader, but I could tell something was wrong.

Regina just nodded. "I-I'm just shocked, that's all. That thing was so...horrible."

"She won't be able to get you again," I found myself promising. "I won't let her. Besides, all she wanted was to kill me. You just happened to be in her way."

She gave me a grateful smile, but then her eyes narrowed. "I know I should've just let Jaci do the fighting but when she just, pushed you off that cliff like that – I got _so_ angry and so worried Clara," she looked down at the floor. "You're the only person I can really trust. _You_ saved me. _You _made me feel comfortable in that camp, nobody else...I would've been so lost if you were taken from me."

For some reason my heart fluttered.

_Stop it_, I told it, _stop doing that_.

_No can do mi amigo_, it replied, _deal with it._

I tried to force myself to smile. "You would've been fine with Jaci. She can be a grumpy-butt sometimes –"

"I heard that –"

"-But she means well," I continued, ignoring Jaci's comment and I saw the beginnings of a grin on Regina's face. "That wasn't the case though. I survived. Creepy bat lady landed her ugly self in Tartarus and hopefully we're not incredibly lost. And nothing else could go wrong."

Jaci peered back at me. "Don't say that," she warned. "You'll jinx it."

"No I won't. We will be fine," I insisted. "There shouldn't be anything else in this tunnel that wants to kill me. Surely."

Jaci still looked uneasy. "You'd be surprised."


	15. Billy shares some wisdom

**15.**

_Billy shares some wisdom_

_and we are (literally) swept away._

Surprise was a feeling I'd become accustomed to since discovering I was a demigod.

After what seemed like hours of taking random twists and turns that made me doubt whether Jaci actually knew where she was going, the huntress suggested we rested for a while. Even if the Fury had somehow managed to survive the fall to Tartarus, it would take some time until she found us again. So, rather reluctantly, I agreed to a few hours rest, considering how tired the pair seemed.

The nectar had done such a good job in soothing their wounds that I had nearly forgotten they'd almost been slaughtered by a Fury. That was bound to take the energy out of you.

"I'll take watch," Jaci stated, leaving no room for questioning. "I just need some time to recover for a bit. Then we can get going again."

I peered at her. "You sure don't want me to be on watch? I'm not that tired and you look like you need some sleep more than me -"

"I'll be fine," she snapped, then she sighed. "I just don't think I can sleep at the moment. That fight with Megaera really...shook me up."

Both me and Regina gave her surprised looks. It seemed unusual that _Jaci_ of all people would admit something so well...human. In the short time I'd known the girl; I knew she wasn't the one who liked to open up about her feelings. Megaera really must've scared her. And in turn, that frightened me.

"There's no way she can find us again," I tried my best at comforting her, though it was probably for my benefit too. "You said this maze changes all the time, it would be hours before she'd get to here and by then we'd be gone, right?"

"Probably," she mumbled. "But just in case, I'll be on my guard."

And that seemed to be the end of it.

I cast an uneasy look in Regina's direction and the girl bit her lip, pondering something.

"I think Clara's right," Gina spoke timidly, ducking her head when Jaci glanced at her. "If you're going to lead us to National City to save her mom, then you need to have your full strength. I trust her to keep us safe, and so should you. Get some sleep."

The daughter of Nike rubbed her eyes and when she blinked them open again, they seemed bloodshot and strained. "Alright then," her shoulders slumped. "But only for a few hours and you better promise that you'll wake me up at the first sign of danger, got it?"

"Loud and clear," I smiled, giving her a thumbs up for extra emphasis.

She rolled her eyes, took off her jacket and turned it into a makeshift pillow for the floor. As soon as her eyes closed, she was out like a light. I turned to Regina. "You're very persuasive, you got her to do what you wanted in one go."

The girl smirked. "Probably because she doesn't think I'm as irritating."

"Oh _ha-ha_, you're hilarious," I shook my head. "You know I wouldn't have half the problems I do with her if she wasn't so stubborn all the time. It's like her one goal in life is to make mine as difficult as possible."

"I think you're overreacting there."

"She tried to shoot me with an arrow during Capture the Flag."

"Maybe she just wanted to win."

"At the expense of me, apparently."

"Well, she is the daughter of the victory goddess. Anyone with enough brain cells would know to stay away from her during a game that involves competition," Regina shrugged. "I only got to Camp Half-Blood yesterday and I know that. You just have to be patient."

I released a puff of breath. "Yeah, patience is something I don't have."

"I've noticed."

"Hey I don't like this sarcastic thing you've got going on," I furrowed my eyebrows. "You've been spending way too much time with Jaci."

"Oh," she said, smiling. "I've always been a sarcastic person."

"Somehow," I raised an eyebrow. "I have a hard time believing that. I probably haven't known you long enough to say for sure, but I think you're more of a silent but deadly kind of person. Like, you can shoot one look at someone and they immediately get intimidated."

"I can be intimidating," Regina nodded in agreement. "Especially towards people who annoy me."

"And am I being annoying right now?"

"Oh absolutely."

"Right," I said. "So, I should probably shut up?"

"Uh huh," Regina smirked, went to lie down then stopped. She gave me a sort of worried expression, her mouth twisting down into a frown. "You sure you'll be alright keeping watch? You don't need any sleep?"

"I'll be fine," I smiled softly. "I'll see you in a few hours."

And though, a little reluctantly, Regina finally closed her eyes and slumped next to Jaci asleep.

Once I was sure that I couldn't be heard anymore, I let out a sigh that seemed unusually loud in the narrow corridor. There wasn't much to look at except for the adjacent bricked wall and the sleeping faces of my friends so I pulled my jacket tighter around me. It was just me and my thoughts. My racing, panicked thoughts.

Even if I had wanted to sleep, I don't think my brain would've let me. Well, it was that and fear of the dreams that might plague me when I finally did. The scream my mum had issued the last time I'd been asleep had been echoing around my mind ever since. And now it was accompanied with the twisted face of the Fury. The creature's sharpened fangs and claws eager to tear into me.

I shivered.

Gale was still tucked safely away in my backpack, refusing to come out since almost being toppled into Tartarus and quite frankly, I couldn't blame her. If I had the opportunity to tuck myself away somewhere safe and warm, far away from the very real dangers of the world I would've taken it without a second thought. But I knew that would be selfish. I had way too many people waiting on me now and I couldn't let them down, even if getting myself killed was the outcome.

Apparently, I'd been so caught up in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed Billy reappear next to me until I heard him chuckle amusedly.

I frowned. "What's so funny?"

The ghost boy was sat, propped up against the opposite wall, his arms crossed firmly over his chest. "Oh nothing," he smiled. "It's just, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, you wallowing in self-pity isn't going to get you anywhere."

"What –" I stopped, gave a nervous glance over to my two friends and then lowered my voice to a harsh whisper. "I am _not_ feeling sorry for myself. What in Hades gave you that idea?"

He shrugged. "Your expression, your body language – it doesn't take a genius."

"Well I'm sorry," I said bitterly. "But I don't think it's a good time to be jumping for joy right now."

"And I'm not saying that. I'm merely stating that whatever you're thinking, whatever doubts you have running through your head right at this moment, is not going to help get your mom back in any way," he told me. "I've always had this saying 'worry about it another day'. Focus on what's meant to be focused on right now instead of something that can be dealt with later."

"So, you're basically saying that I should forget everything?"

"Not forget exactly," Billy continued thoughtfully. "But just store away for a while, until you're in a better place to deal with it. My own mom always told me that, and I've been living – well, I had been living by it since as long as I can remember."

I fell silent, pondering on his message and realising it probably had more truth to it then I'd thought.

"That seems like a difficult thing to do," I noted.

"It gets easier, the more you do it. You should try it sometime, it might help. I know it helped Felicity. She's one of the strongest people I know, always has been," he smiled warmly as if recalling a fond memory of my mum in his head. There was a hint of sadness lingering in there, despite his obvious attempt to hide it.

"You should've seen her face when she talked about you, she almost couldn't keep it together. I don't know what she's going to think if she knows you've been around her the whole time, attached to Augury."

His face turned grave. "I don't want her to know."

I pulled a face. "Why not? This could help her –"

"I don't want her to see me like this. I don't want her to see what I've been reduced to."

"She wouldn't care," I argued. "I know she wouldn't. If it's a pride thing, or embarrassment, or whatever – you don't have to worry about it, she'd understand."

Billy sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I know she would, but that's not the reason why. Did she or Chiron ever tell you how I died?"

I nodded. "I remember her saying that you were killed by some monsters on a quest."

"A quest I wasn't even meant to be on," he grimaced. "Three of my friends were just meant to go and I got so annoyed that I was never chosen that I decided to sneak out of camp and join them. Felicity was part of the three and she begged me to go back. Sometimes if there's more than three on a quest…someone doesn't get to return home."

"And you didn't."

"Never saw Camp Half-Blood again and it's all because I didn't listen to her. I was too stupid, too blind. And now look at me. If she saw me like this…" Billy shook his head, and then his eyes fell upon Augury. "The least I can do now to rectify the guilt I've put her through is by helping her daughter."

I wasn't sure what to say. What could you say? I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Why have you not ended up in Elysium or gone into the Underworld?"

"To be honest, I really don't know. I think it might be because of unfinished business but I don't know that for sure. Maybe I'll find out sooner or later."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Billy looked up at the ceiling and laughed dryly. "Look me being a hypocrite. I was telling you not to feel sorry for yourself and then I do the exact same thing –"

He paused and sat upright.

The action made me do the same. "What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"Can't you hear that?"

I strained my ears. The Labyrinth was doing its usual groans, but other than that there was something else. Something much louder and seemed to be getting closer. It reminded Clara of the ocean, the roar of the waves slapping against a sandy shore but instead this sounded like something closer to a tidal wave.

I scrambled to my feet as it got closer and closer, the corridor shaking violently enough to wake up Jaci and Regina for me.

"What in the Hades is going on?" Jaci demanded groggily from the floor. "Is it an earthquake?"

By this time, Billy had disappeared and I peered distantly at the end of the corridor, trying to suss out where the sound was coming from and what it could possibly be.

Choppy, churning water burst out from seemingly nowhere and began thundering down the walkway towards us. I heard Regina and Jaci curse behind me, and hurriedly grab all their things. A hand on my shoulder, tugging me backwards brought me back to reality.

"Let's go," Jaci barked. "Now."

"Don't have to tell me twice," I said as we all took off down the opposite direction, the rushing water hot on our tails a few metres behind.

"Where did that come from?" Regina shouted, over the roar of the waves.

"I don't know!" Jaci replied. "But someone is definitely trying to trap us in it and I don't want to stick around and find out who."

"Someone wants to drown us?" I exclaimed. "Can't say I'm –"

I tripped. Of course, I tripped.

My shoe caught a stray upturned rock jutting up out the ground and I went tumbling into the others. We didn't have time to cry out before we were submerged. I held my mouth shut, limbs scrambling uselessly in the water as we floated through the corridors at what seemed like an unnatural speed. Only a few times had I managed catch a lungful of grateful air before I was tugged below the surface again.

After what seemed like a few minutes, the corridor opened up into a brightly lit room.

The water suddenly ceased and all three of us dropped ungracefully onto the neatly tiled and surprisingly dry floor, coughing and spluttering.

"Oh thank goodness," spoke a serene-sounding voice from somewhere across the room. "You finally made it."

I blinked my eyes, trying to look at whoever was the owner of a voice and finally the blurriness began to fade.

An unimaginably beautiful woman in a rose-red dress was sat at a marble table adjacent to us. Her hands were wrapped around a mug of what appeared to be tea. There was some more cups and a tea pot sat on the table, looking as if it had been freshly boiled.

The one thing I couldn't make sense of was the fact that this woman didn't have a single drop of water on her. Meanwhile all of three of us were on the floor, looking like drowned rats.

Now that was hardly fair.

"Aphrodite," Jaci coughed from beside me. "Should've guessed. Always liked making an entrance."

Aphrodite, the goddess of love smiled a lovely smile and gestured to the tea pot. "Would you girls care for some tea? I do believe we have much to discuss."


	16. I meet the goddess of love

**16.**

_I meet the goddess of love,_

_And she gives me a challenge._

"Well," I spluttered, trying not to choke on the water that managed to escape into my lungs. "You certainly swept us off our feet."

Aphrodite continue to smile at us, watching as we stumbled groggily to our feet and took note of the surroundings. It was a small, neatly furnished room that resembled something of a city apartment. The goddess sat comfortably in the middle.

Jaci glared at the woman, whose appearance seemed to shift and change in front of them. "What do you want, Aphrodite? We don't have time for games."

"Funny," the goddess said sweetly. "And here I thought games were all you children of Nike cared about. But don't worry, what I'm here for doesn't concern you dear. It concerns the lovely Clara here and my daughter. Feel free to leave if it suits you."

"Daughter?" I and Jaci repeated. We looked at each other. Then at Regina.

"Regina is _your_ daughter?"

"You're my mom?" Regina squeaked.

The goddess of love frowned. "Now why do you all sound so surprised. Of course she's my daughter. I'm here to claim her. You lot didn't give me much of a chance to before you rushed off on this adventure of yours. I helped guide you to camp, Regina. I gave your father that dagger before I left so that when the time came, you'd be safe."

"You didn't do a very good job considering she'd almost got eaten by giant ants," I said dryly.

Aphrodite's face twitched in annoyance. The movement made me realise how similar the goddess looked like her daughter. The long dark hair and olive complexion, the brown eyes. Her appearance had seemed to settle on those characteristics.

"I did what I could," she responded, and she smiled again. "Please, sit. Let's have some tea and talk."

Trying to run from a deity would be futile. She'd probably just pop up somewhere else in the labyrinth, albeit a little less friendlier. So, with a nod of confirmation from Jaci, we took the seats around the marble table and the tea pot began to lift and pour into the mugs provided in front of us.

"You said you wanted to speak to Clara," Jaci spoke firmly. "So speak."

Aphrodite's eyes flickered over to the demigod. "You know, just because you're under the protection of Artemis, doesn't mean you can speak to me so poorly Jaci Berenice. I can still make your life a misery if I felt like it suited."

"Then you would have My Lady to answer to."

"But I wouldn't be the only one, now would I? I don't think she's very happy with you either. Abandoning the other huntresses for the quest she never approved," Aphrodite took a sip of her tea. "Don't you think it will be wise to tread carefully from now on?"

Jaci fell silent. I wasn't sure what that meant. Had Jaci angered Artemis by coming with us? I hadn't thought of that and now it was concerning me.

"But she's helping us," Regina said suddenly, taking both us and the goddess by surprise. "Why would Artemis be mad if she's helping us? That's a good thing. Surely she can understand that?"

I watched as the goddess' eyes softened when she looked at Regina. "You have still so much to learn about this world, Regina. Things are never that simple, the fates are _never_ that kind. Your friend Clara is very much a prime example of this. A child of Hecate born with a dangerous gift which has unfortunately invoked the wrath of Hades and caused quite a stir amongst us gods."

"So I was told by the Fury that attacked us," I responded matter-of-factly. "I never asked for any of this. I would do anything just to be normal and to have my mom back."

"I know you would, child. But unfortunately, as I said, the fates are never kind. By bestowing this gift upon you, Hecate has crossed a line that Hades simply cannot ignore. He's complained to Zeus and instead of just killing you, we decided to give you an ultimatum, should you choose to accept it," Aphrodite continued with a little chuckle. "Well, I don't think you have any other choice."

"An ultimatum?" I repeated, swallowing the growing lump in my throat. "What does that mean exactly?"

"You are to complete the task that I assign you. It's nothing too tricky, just a little competition in which the prize is something I've been meaning to get my hands on for a quite a while now," the goddess shrugged. "We've agreed that if you can prove your loyalty to us, I'll let you leave this room with your soul still firmly intact to that mortal body of yours."

"Gee thanks."

"Oh don't mention it."

"And what does Hades actually think of this?" Jaci queried. "He's not getting anything out of it, so I can't see him liking it much."

"He detests the idea but then again, he really has no say in the matter. Zeus decides on the final verdict and I willingly offered my services to come and deliver it to you," Aphrodite watched me closely, making me squirm uncomfortably in the chair. Suddenly the tea didn't seem that appetising anymore. "Clara Gilley, do you accept this ultimatum?"

I cursed. It didn't seem like I had much of a choice in the matter.

"Fine," I gritted my teeth. "I'll do it."

"Excellent," the goddess of love straightened. "Superb choice Clara. Of course your friends will have to stay here with me for the time being. Only you alone can complete the task."

"What?" Jaci blurted. "But you can't-"

"I'm sorry but I have to insist, you two must stay here. Clara has to prove her worth, and she can only do that if she is alone."

"Just tell me what this task is so I can get on with it," I said. "You said it was a competition, right? That can't be too hard. What's the prize you're after?"

"An apple."

I blinked. "You what now."


	17. There's a task at hand

**17**

_There's a task at hand,_

_and I'm probably going to die._

"So, what you're saying is," I repeated with a blank stare. "You want me to enter some kind of battle competition in the hopes that I win some mouldy old apple from this goddess you call Eris. The gods want me to prove my loyalty by winning an apple?"

Jaci, who had been silent throughout the goddess' explanation had gone a shade paler than usual. I turned to her just as she opened her mouth to speak. "It's not just any apple. It's the Apple of Discord, its power is dangerous. It can cause wars; in fact, it did start one – the Trojan War. You've heard of the Trojan War, right? Please say yes or gods help us we're screwed."

I rolled my eyes.

"Of course, I know the Trojan War. I'm not that dumb. I actually made a pretty neat model of the Trojan horse the Greeks used in Elementary. Was the best in class, according to my teacher," I explained, a little fondness seeping into my words. "Anyway, I thought that war was caused by Paris and Helen of Troy running away with each other."

"And who do you think made that happen?" Jaci said. "You're sitting right across from her."

It took a moment for Jaci's words to process. "Oh no."

Aphrodite let out a dreamy sigh. "Those two, they were certainly something."

Regina frowned. "I'm still not getting how this has to do with the apple."

"Oh, right yes," Aphrodite straightened, casting her daughter a smile. "So this is the interesting part of the story, you're going to love it. It's a personal favourite of mine and I'm certainly one for drama."

"You don't say," Jaci sneered.

Aphrodite continued. "One night, way back in the ancient times, Zeus threw this massive party in celebration of Achilles' parents' marriage. And of course, everyone was invited except, unfortunately, Eris. A goddess of discord just causes too much disruption to a party, you know? Naturally, she didn't take too kindly to this and as revenge, she created the Apple of Discord."

"Aphrodite, Athena and Hera all wanted the apple so they gave Paris the decision to choose who it belonged to and he chose Aphrodite," Jaci finished. "She then gave him Helen as a reward which then started a _ten-year war_ with the Greeks and Trojans."

"My point is," Aphrodite cut in sharply. "Is that if the apple falls into the wrong hands, the destruction it could cause would be devastating. Eris is hosting a competition for the apple and if someone who knew it's potential got a hold of it – the future, unfortunately looks, bleak. Even I don't need to be an oracle to know that."

"Why choose me then?" I asked. The burden was beginning to weigh heavily on my shoulders already. Win an apple before it could possibly be used to start wars in an age with deadly modern weapons? No pressure there. "I'm probably the worst demigod in existence right now. Wouldn't it make more sense to assign it to someone with a little more…how should I say this…fighting chance?"

"Do you honestly think the gods would be paying this much attention to you if we didn't think you were strong? Your capabilities, if you put your mind to it, can be extraordinary. That is why you're sat here before me now. Because of what you can do and because of what _we _know you can do."

"It's because of what I can do which got me in this mess in the first place," I retorted, feeling the anger beginning to bubble.

"So why not use it?" the goddess of love replied. "You have a gift, Clara Gilley. We may not like this gift, but by proving to us that you do not mean to use it to do harm – we will allow you to live. Unfortunately, Hades isn't so easy to convince, but you just have to hope he'll let that grudge of his go."

"And there really is no other option?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer already.

"I'm afraid not, dear. We gods rarely go back on our decisions, this is now fixed in stone."

A ran a hand through my hair, and placed the other on Augury. At least I know I would have Billy on my side to help me through this. Almost as if he read my mind, the sword hummed slightly in acknowledgement. I sighed and stood up from the table.

"Fine. How do I find Eris?"

"Clara, you can't possibly -" Regina tried to protest.

"It's okay Regina, honestly," I said softly, trying to reassure her as well as myself. "I have to do this. I don't like it, but there's really no other choice."

"She's right," Jaci spoke, sombrely. "The gods always get what they want."

I turned to Aphrodite. "I'm guessing you don't expect me to find this place on my own."

"Of course not," the goddess replied, she opened her palm and a loop of string materialised onto her hand. It was a red in colour and made of wool. "This is Ariadne's string. She was a mortal that could see through the Mist and thus through the Labyrinth. It will help guide you to Eris. _Do not lose it._"

Jaci gaped. "I thought that was lost during the battle in the Labyrinth ages ago."

"It was, for a while," Aphrodite confirmed. "It's only recently resurfaced when the Labyrinth opened again so you see my need for your reassurance that you will not lose it."

"I'll try my best," I said meekly, taking the string from her palm.

"Oh, and one last thing. That polecat of yours needs to stay here."

In response, I heard Gale began to scuttle around in my backpack. I'd almost forgotten she was there. I took the bag off my back and placed it on the table, unzipping it and allowing the white polecat to escape onto the marble surface. Her claws tapping as she peeked curiously at Aphrodite, before chattering angrily.

The goddess rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know Hecate sent you to look after Clara but I must insist that you stay. This has to be Clara's job only. Hecate may not like that, but she should consider it a punishment for causing this whole disaster to begin with."

"I'll be back," I told Gale, and the polecat turned its red eyes towards me. "Don't worry."

I turned towards the doorway, clutching the string tightly in my hand until my knuckles began to whiten. The dark and dank walkway of the Labyrinth looked unappealing as I stepped towards it.

"Wait!" someone shouted.

And I turned around just as Regina crushed me into a hug that felt capable of breaking a few bones. It took me so off guard that I almost didn't remember to hug her back.

"Please come back," she mumbled.

I smiled. "You have my word."

*~PJ~*

So here I was, strolling through a rumbling dark Labyrinth with nothing but a piece of string and a ghost boy to keep me company. At first, I was a bit confused as to how the string which must have been about two metres long, was going to guide me through miles of tunnels. But then eventually, as I began to walk, I realised I suddenly knew exactly where I was going.

I knew what directions led to where. I knew exactly what turns to take. The knowledge had suddenly flooded my mind without me even realising it. For an unassuming loop of string, it had more power than I'd imagined.

Without thinking twice, I took the next left. The walls around me began to shift from a harsh rocky surface littered with stalactites to a smooth, cobblestone.

"You're going to die," said Billy, unhelpfully as he walked through the last hanging stalactite.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I grumbled.

He shrugged. "You're a barely trained demigod about to walk into a battle arena hosted by the goddess of discord. I can't say that I'm liking those odds."

"Well join the club, because me neither," I replied, sighing. "There's no way in Hades I'm winning that apple and I think the Olympians know that. That's why they've sent me to get it, because the chances of me returning are slim to none."

"Actually, I don't agree with that part," Billy spoke. "Aphrodite meant what she said about that apple being dangerous. They wouldn't just send anyone to get it. You need to use your powers, but you don't like using them, do you?"

"I don't like using them because I can't control it when I do and I usually end up passing out," I pointed out. "I'll be useless if I faint mid-way through a battle. I can't rely on them for something like this."

"So you're just going to use Augury?"

I nodded. "That's the plan."

"That's a stupid plan."

"I never said it was perfect."

"You're going to get totally annihilated."

"Oh, I know," I stated simply. "Do you have any better ideas?"

He nodded. "Yes in-fact, I do. Use your powers, dimwit. That's what they're there for."

"How are a bunch of ghosts going to help me win a fight if I can't even control them?" I spun round to face him, angrily. "I won't win the apple that way."

"You don't have to summon a load of ghosts. You can just use me."

I frowned. "What?"

Billy groaned, smacking his hand against his forehead. "I'm connected to Augury, we've established that. I wielded that sword for years before I died, I know how to use it. If you channel my energy whilst you're fighting, I can guide you in the arena. It will be like I was the one using the sword, not you."

I let that sink in. That wasn't too bad of an idea. I'd still be using my powers and there'd still be a time-limit until my energy was depleted, but it might just work.

"So, if I channel you through Augury, you'll do the fighting?"

"Most of it," he explained. "You can only use it for a certain amount of time and then it'll just be you, but hopefully by that point we would've rendered your opponent incapacitated."

"Let's just pray to my mother that this works," I began walking again, unsheathing Augury.

It was then that I noticed a sound other than the usual rumbling of the maze. It was thundering through the tunnels, getting louder which each step we took. Was it…cheering?

"We're getting closer," Billy said. "It sounds like the arena is just down there."

He pointed right and I released a breath, peering around the corner. In the distant, at the far end of the tunnel, there was a shining bright light where the sounds of the cheering echoed louder than before. Ariadne's string was telling me to go down there, that it was the right direction.

Billy glanced at me. "Are you ready?"

"Not a single bit," I laughed, the nerves causing my voice to shake. "But it's now or never."

With a simple nod to one another, we headed down towards the arena.


	18. The game begins

**18**

_The game begins,_

_our strength is tested._

I reached the end of the corridor, stepping over the threshold and into a brightly lit arena that reminded me of the amphitheatre back at Camp Half-Blood.

Every part of the arena seemed to be filled to the brim with multiple different creatures and people that I didn't recognise in the slightest. All of them were cheering wildly as two figures clashed and fought in front of them. I couldn't help but flinch as the blades collided.

Glancing back, I saw Billy had disappeared and I felt myself grasp the hilt of Augury tighter. The sword hummed softly, reminding me that he was still here. I looked back round again; the figures were still fighting. Their concentrations so fixated on one another; they hadn't even noticed I was only a few metres away. One of them, I noted, was a lanky looking teen wearing a torn Camp Half-Blood shirt and shorts.

The other was a little older, with muscular arms littered with scars. He had dark curly hair and was wearing just a simple pair jeans and a T-Shirt. It didn't take me long to figure out who'd be the victor in this match.

With a swing of his sword, the scarred guy knocked the camper's weapon out of his hands and drove his shoulder into the opening that created. I winced as the younger boy's body crashed to the ground, clouds of sand wafting into the air from where he landed. The crowd roared with glee and a booming; female voice cackled over what sounded like a loud-speaker system.

"Oooh," giggled the voice. "The son of Athena bested by a Demeter boy. Now that's something worth watching, don't you think?"

The people laughed in response and the boy whose mother was Athena, scrambled to his feet. His stormy eyes ablaze with embarrassed fury. "You got lucky," he hissed, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"No," replied the scarred boy with a sly smile. "I'm just better. And now that apple belongs to me."

"It looks like we have a winner folks, Lityerses, could you please-"

It was then I remembered why I was there in the first place.

"Wait!" I shouted and everything fell silent as I ran into the middle of the arena. I looked around with a meek smile until I found the goddess herself. She was sat at the very top of the stands, wearing a black toga. Eris was a slender woman with long, straight hair and blood-red lips twisting into an inquisitive smile. "I'm here to fight for the apple. It's not over."

Eris tilted her head with curiosity, her gaze sent a shiver running down my spine. Eventually, the goddess leant forward and rested her head on the knuckles of her hand. "Really now?" she said softly. "Now that is interesting, isn't it? What would a little girl want with the Apple of Discord?"

"I'm not a-" I sighed. "I can't say. I'm pretty sure I'd get smited if I did."

The goddess of strife pursed her lips. "What's your name, girl?"

"Clara. Clara Gilley."

"And you're a Half-Blood?"

"Daughter of Hecate," I nodded.

"Hecate? I haven't had many children of Hecate in my arena," Eris continued. "I'll look forward to seeing you fall, demigod. You think you're strong enough to win against the Reaper of Men?"

I looked at the scarred guy named Lityerses, then at the Athena boy and then back at Eris. "Absolutely not."

"Very well, although you are _extremely_ late, I shall let you compete for the apple," announced the goddess and my shoulders slumped in relief. "As for you Kendry Ross, I'm afraid this is goodbye. Kill him."

"What?" I said and spun round just as Lityerses attempted the final killer blow.

Kendry, the son of Athena, barely just managed to roll out of the sword's path and sprinted towards the closest exit only to be stopped by two ladies with snakes hissing for hair. I blinked, trying to recall the name of the familiar women in my head. Gordons? No, that wasn't it. Gorgons? Yes, I was pretty sure.

Kendry backed away, holding up his sword.

"I just want to go home," he shouted. "I didn't even want the stupid apple in the first place. Leave me alone!"

"What's the point of killing him?" I exclaimed to the goddess. "Just let him leave."

"That's not how this game works, little girl. That's how my game has always worked," Eris replied, her eyes narrowing. "The boy fought and lost and the price for this is death. Surely you must've figured that out? I've never let someone walk away from here freely."

"How about a bargain?" I continued, desperately. "We could come to some kind of agreement, just don't kill him. He doesn't deserve that."

Eris leaned forwards. "You would bargain for a boy you barely know?"

"I will always try and save the innocent. There's already been so many unnecessary deaths in this world. I think it's time I stopped that."

"Bold words from just a girl, are they not?"

"Probably," I shrugged. "But you listen to me. If I win, I get the apple and Kendry here gets to live. If I lose, you get something that's been sort after for years now."

Eris quirked up an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Ariadne's string. The key to the Labyrinth and of course, my death."

For a moment there was silence. And then Eris' eyes sparkled. "If you truly have Ariadne's string, I don't see a reason not to take it from your corpse now and get this over with."

"But then you'll be breaking the rules of your game, wouldn't you?" I smiled. "Are you really willing to break a millennia's worth of traditions? Do we have a deal?"

For once since this whole demigod shenanigans had started, I felt in control. The bravery suddenly coursing through me was certainly strange, but I wasn't going to complain about it. It stopped the looming fear taking control. I needed to trust what Billy had said and I needed to win this stupid apple.

The goddess of strife took another moment to think. Her eyes were observing and calculating and I could barley stop my hands from shaking.

"We do, daughter of Hecate," Eris finally responded. "If you lose against Lityerses here, I get to take Ariadne's string and as well as your life. If you win, which seems rather unlikely I must admit, both you and the Athena boy can walk away with the apple."

"Then it's settled," I said.

_Don't fail me now Billy_, I pleaded, holding Augury up higher as I turned to face my opponent.

Kendry had been pulled to one side by the Gorgons, his eyes wide with confusion at the decision I'd made. But I couldn't just let him die, not if there was no reason to other than a silly tradition. Too many ghosts I'd encountered had fallen before their time, I wasn't about to add another to my list.

The anger beginning to simmer within me was good, I needed that if I was going to channel Billy through my sword. Emotion was tied to the ghosts; I knew that much.

"Don't worry," Lityerses grinned. "I'll make this quick. I have someone waiting on me after all."

"So do I," I responded. "In fact, I have three, so beat that."

Augury began to hum and shudder, my muscles trembling from the strain. I couldn't do this for long, I had to remind myself. Using this sort of magic always had a time limit.

"Let the battle…" said Eris, another smile curling her lips. "Begin."

Lityerses spun forwards before I could blink but without me even meaning to, Augury swung in an upwards arch to block the strike. Our blades clashed furiously together and a strength that I knew belonged to Billy began to push back against the son of Demeter.

It worked; I couldn't stop the slight laugh of relief that soon escaped. It actually worked.


End file.
